Blood and Shadows
by dracos-beautygirl
Summary: Secrets, love, blood and murder. All because Hermione didn't become Head Girl. But that's what happens when you take a trip down Knockturn Alley.
1. Chapter 1

Hermione climbed up the tree after Luna, barely listening as her blonde friend rattled on about some creature or other that she doubted existed. Her focus was on the Quidditch match above between the Weasley clan plus Harry.

"I'm glad Harry's able to relax," she said. Luna pulled out a Quibbler.

"He deserves it, I imagine."

Hermione nodded, picking at some tree leaves. She smiled as the twins went at it on their brooms, putting a halt to the match.

"Do you think we'll be able to go into town today?" Luna inquired. "I'm still in need of some books and the Weasleys don't get the Quibbler owled to them.

"Molly said we would after breakfast. Which is why…Guys! BREAKFAST!"

Soon the Weasley's kitchen was full of rowdy teens, yelling, jostling, and eating. Molly was trying to get some instructions in about their trip to Diagon Alley, but everyone was too distracted and she soon abandoned the attempt to go find her husband.

"Angie says that Gringotts is under constant watch now," Fred was saying. "Says they've got Ministry on top of that place."

"Not surprising," Charlie said. "I wouldn't be surprised if the whole alley's crawling with the officials, incompetent bastards. No offense, Dad."

"None taken," Arthur said as he entered. More conversation ensued, but Hermione paid little attention to it, mind distracted by the upcoming school year and all it entailed. She had received her schedule, laden with classes, and a long book list earlier that week, but she was still anxious for the arrival of one more letter.

"Owl!"

She looked up quickly as George pulled open the window. An owl set down on the ledge, peering in at the room curiously. Catching sight of Hermione, it flitted over and then held out its leg. Everyone got quiet as Hermione slipped the letter off of the owl and began opening it.

"_Miss Hermione Granger, we regret to inform you that, though you have proven yourself…_"

She stared for a while, not getting too far into the rest of the letter. Pursing her lips as she neatly folded the letter, Hermione quietly got up from the table.

"Hermione-"

"I'm going to go get ready to go," she called over her shoulder, striding out. She slowly went up to the room, rubbing her cheek ruefully. "Well, that's that," she muttered, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "I mean, it's not as if…"

There was no justification for what just occurred. She pulled the letter out of her pocket, rereading it. How had this happened? How could she _not_ be Head Girl?

"Hermione?"

She looked up to see Ginny and Luna peering in at her. Hermione huffed a little to keep the inevitable tears down.

"I'm fine."

Ginny's disbelieving look made Hermione even more determined to have this dropped. "Look, I am fine. It's not the end of the world. I mean, not being around a lot last year probably has something to do with it. I shouldn't be surprised that they picked someone else."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Hermione nodded, standing up straight. "Yes, Ginny. I'm quite fine."

"She's about to cry," Luna pointed out and Ginny turned in time to see Hermione slip down onto the bed in tears. Ginny and Luna sat down on either side of the girl, rubbing her back comfortingly.

* * *

><p>Diagon Alley was unusually crowded that afternoon, mostly with students scrambling to get their school supplies. After Voldemort's fall, things had more or less returned to normal, with a new surge in students returning to Hogwarts. Molly made her way towards Flourish and Blotts along with Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Luna. Everyone kept glancing back at Hermione, who was trailing the group with a stoic look on her face. She had been quiet since they arrived in the Alley, strands of her bushy hair curled around a finger as she actively avoided looking at her friends.<p>

"Why's she being like this?" Ron grumbled. "Can you imagine how obnoxious she would be if she had become Head Girl?"

"You're an idiot, Ron," Ginny snapped. "Why don't you leave it alone before I hex you?"

"I'm just saying. She was already taking a million classes. How did she expect to do all the Head Girl work, too?"

"That's enough, Ronald," Molly said. "Alright, you all have your book lists. Ginny, I want you to come with me. I need to get you some new robes. Luna, you should come, too. Harry, Ron," she added in a softer tone. "You make sure you stay with Hermione. She's in a little bit of a mood. She shouldn't be alone."

Molly and the younger girls left. Ron turned to Harry.

"This is silly. Hermione doesn't need to be babysitted."

"Maybe she does," Harry muttered, looking around. "Damn."

Ron's eyes widened as he looked about the bookstore. "Hermione!"

Harry nudged him. "Come on, let's find her before your mum figures out we lost her."

They started searching the store, though it was in vain. Hermione had not gone in. Instead she had continued along the alley, not too interested in being around her friends. She had had a cry and been done with it, but the disappointment of not being Head Girl still hurt and listening to Ron complain about her mood was not her idea of a trip to Diagon Alley.

It was crowded enough on the street that she blended in quite well. She passed by students she recognized and wondered which of the girls had snatched the Head position. The thought aggravated her and, with an angry exhale, she whirled on her heel and right smack into someone.

"Watch it!"

"Careful, Blaise. Mudblood here looks like she may kill someone."

She looked up agitatedly to see Blaise Zabini glaring down at her with some irritation in his dark eyes. At his side stood Draco Malfoy, amused smirk on his pale face. Taking a step back, Hermione offered them both scathing looks.

"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" she snapped. "I thought-"

"I was in France?" He chuckled, gray eyes moving over her curiously. "Relieved to see me?"

"Disappointed you still have your spine, coward."

"She doesn't seem to like you much, Draco," Blaise commented in such a tone that Hermione could have sworn he was bored. Without another word, the dark boy disappeared into the crowd. Draco shook his head.

"He doesn't talk much."

"You should follow his example," she muttered and the smile fell off his face.

"How is not being Head Girl treating you, Mudblood?" he spat, leaning in so that their faces were close. "Guess you're not the smartest witch and everyone knows it. How the mighty have fallen."

He took in the hurt that flashed across her face with a grin of glee. "Good. Keep that look on your face, Granger. I want to see it every time I look at you."

She trembled in anger but she could not speak, too focused on trying to keep tears out of her eyes. Draco straightened up, a look of triumph on his cold features.

"Have a good school year." He swept past her, leaving her in such a state of rage that she could not move for several minutes. To have her heart's desire plucked from her on the tails of such a harrying year was one thing. For Draco Malfoy, the boy who had deserted Hogwarts in its hour of need, to stomp on it in such a fashion…

Her gaze passed over a dark passage and something inside her beckoned that she enter. Nobody on the street seemed to notice it, so Hermione had no trouble slipping into it undetected. She just needed a quiet place to breathe without Malfoy or Ron or anyone bringing up things she didn't need to be reminded about.

As she passed down the narrow alley, she realized immediately that she was in Knockturn Alley. The stores that lined the street were dark and mostly empty, having been abandoned after the final battle. There were very few pedestrians but they all watched Hermione. She scanned the storefront displays, most of which were barren. One particular display caught her attention. It was full of dusty old antique vases, but her interest was in between the vases. The shelves were thick with dust so it was easy to see once she got close enough. Tiny paw prints, like those of a kitten, tracked in between the vases with a symmetrical sweeping pattern between. A tail, and a long one by how wide the patterns were. The prints led off of the display and, when Hermione pressed her nose against the window, she could see prints along the floor.

Her mind instantly went to Crookshanks, who she had lost last year. Biting her lip, she went to the door.

The shop seemed to have been abandoned since before Hermione knew she was a witch. Ancient cobwebs decorated the walls and shelves. More of the antique vases littered the store, making her wonder what sort of store it was. But her attention was on the footprints. There were plenty of them along the floor, some of them older judging by the dust present. She followed the fresh trail, which led underneath a large bookcase towards the back of the shop. Kneeling down, she peered underneath the last shelf.

"Oh, wow."


	2. Chapter 2

"There she is. Hermione! Hermione!"

She watched as Ron and Harry pushed their way through the crowd to get to her side. "Where the hell have you been?" Ron demanded.

"I was getting supplies for Potions," she said, gesturing to her bulging bag. Ron opened his mouth, but Harry beat him to it.

"Why didn't you tell us where you were going?"

She blushed and shrugged. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause trouble, I just…I got distracted."

"Oh, thank God!" Molly appeared beside her along with Ginny and Luna. "Hermione, you gave us such a fright!"

"Where did you run off to?" Ginny inquired. Eyes lighting up, Hermione pulled up her shoulder bag.

"You'll never guess…What?" The bag was empty save some Potions' supplies that she did not remember purchasing. She sifted about in the bag. "I…I found something…"

"What is it, Hermione?" Harry asked, peering into the bag. "You ran off to get Potions' supplies?"

_Where did it go?_ she thought in a panic, looking about the alley.

"What are you looking for?"

"Um…nothing I guess…I went to get some supplies." Hermione sighed heavily. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I wanted to get these before…well, I just went to get them. I'm sorry, Mrs. Weasley."

"It's okay, dear." Molly herded them back towards the bookstore. "Let's get the rest of those books so that we can end the day."

Hermione could not wait to get back to her room. The day had not gone according to plan and she wanted to be by herself. The others took much too long to get their books and Ron was all too glad to voice his relief that she was not the Head Girl. When they did return to the Weasley house, Hermione hurried up to the room she was sharing with the other girls and locked herself in, much to the curiosity of the others. Setting down the shoulder bag, she stared at it for a while.

"I can't believe it ran off."

The bag began purring suddenly. With a gasp, Hermione undid the clasp.

Bright golden orbs gazed out at Hermione and she got down on the floor to be at eyelevel. Tiny gray paws appeared from the bag, followed by the body of a cat. It was slick with long black stripes along its back and side. There were three dark blue spots on its chest. But that what wrested her attention was the terribly long thin tail with a vicious white barb at the tip. The tail whipped around so fast that the air popped around it.

It peered at her curiously, dark pink nose sniffing away at her outstretched hand. A sharp angry mew filled the room and she pulled back, eyes wide. It crept along the bed on its belly, keeping its gaze on Hermione while also taking in the room. Biting her lip, she tentatively reached out for it as it curled up on her pillow.

"Where did you go?"

"Hermione?"

It froze, eyes on the door. Then it flitted back into the bag. Throwing the flap over to hide the creature, she went and opened the door. Ron and Harry came in, looking a little worried.

"Are you sure you're okay, Hermione?" Harry asked. Hermione nodded, distracted by how close Ron was to her bag.

"Of course Harry. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because we know how much being Head Girl meant to you."

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes in impatience. "I'm sure you did."

Ron sighed. "Look, Hermione. I know it's not-"

"Shut up, Ron." Hermione pushed him away from the bed just as he was about to sit near the bag. "Go away."

"Hermione-"

"Go away!" She glared at him. "You haven't been supportive _once_ since I got that stupid letter and trying to pretend you care now is just patronizing!"

"Well, I can't see why you would care about that bloody position? After everything you've been through, I figured-"

"You figured wrong. I've wanted to be Head Girl since first year and you knew that! Don't pretend to care, Ronald. Just get out."

Ron's cheeks flushed angrily. "Well, I can see how someone like you would want to be a pompous smartass with a badge."

Hermione clenched her fists tightly. "You stupid prat," she whispered, tears coming to her eyes. "You stupid…go to hell!"

Harry moved aside as Ron stormed out. Hermione stomped her foot down with a frustrated scream.

"I can't believe this is happening to me!"

Harry touched her arm. "Hermione, it's going to be okay-"

"Don't treat me like a child, Harry," she snapped. "Just…please, just leave me alone."

He nodded and left. Closing the door behind him, Hermione sat down on the bed and covered her face to stop the flood of irrational tears. A low murmur drew her attention to the bag. Golden eyes stared out at her. The murmur started up again, softly vibrating her skin. She sighed, curling up on the bed but keeping her eyes on the bag.

"Get a grip on yourself, Hermione," she muttered. "It's going to be alright."

* * *

><p>With her little creature to keep her company, the time leading up to the return to Hogwarts went by quickly. Because of how she obtained him, Hermione kept its existence to herself, not quite sure the others would approve of her trip to Knockturn Alley, nevertheless bring something back with her. Also, she had no idea what it was that she had living in her shoulder bag. Its disappearing act was also an issue.<p>

But slowly it had warmed to her, so much so that, at night, it would slip out of the bag and curl up next to her chest, tail slowly swishing up above their heads. When Hermione had time alone in the room, it prowled the dark corners of the room and the only way she was able to find it was by the ever-present popping air.

After saying goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Hermione boarded the plane ahead of the others. She found an empty compartment near the luggage car and, after putting up her trunk, she sat near the door with the shoulder bag clutched close. The bag hummed, as it was want to do on such occasions. She peeked into the bag, wiggling her finger in front of the eyes.

"Hey, Hermione!"

Neville had just popped his head in, smiling pleasantly like he always did. "I haven't seen you in a while! How has your summer been?"

"Oh, um…" She pulled her finger out of the bag and smiled. "Fine, I suppose. You know how it is."

He nodded, sitting across from her. "Trying to relax before school, hm? I heard Luna was with you all? I'm sure Ginny liked that."

"They had a lot of fun together. I heard you went to Spain with your grandmother."

"Yes, Grandmum wanted to get out of the country. It was a great trip! We traveled along the Riviera and got to see quite a bit of…oh, hi, Harry!"

Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Luna piled into the compartment, putting up their trunks as they greeted Neville. Ron started to sit next to Hermione, but a dark look from her put him in a seat by the window, glaring at her. Since their fight, the two had not spoken to each other. If they could, they avoided each other, and when they couldn't, Ron made it miserable.

Hermione tried listening to Neville's vacation narratives, but as the train began to pull away from the station, she became anxious. The bag hummed again and she knew if it got any louder, she would need to do some explaining. So she got up in the midst of Ron talking about on of the Quidditch games.

"Oh, I suppose I'm boring you, am I?" he snapped when she opened the door.

"Ron, stop it," Ginny snapped.

"No, no I won't!" He stood as well when Hermione turned to him. "You have gone past disappointment, Hermione. This sulky, sad mood your in is ridiculous! So you're not Head Girl? So what? You don't need that to prove to everyone that you're a smartass!"

"Just like you don't ever need to prove how much of an idiot you are?" she hissed. She whirled around on her heel and strode down the hall towards the luggage car. The car was relatively quiet save the sound of the train passing over the tracks. She checked to make sure nobody had followed her before unclasping the bag.

"Come on, Easter."

It slinked out, wary of the swaying train car and the new surroundings. She sighed, pulling _Hogwarts, A History_ out of her bag along with a few biscuits wrapped in a napkin.

"Ron is…ugh, a pretentious little git! I am _not_ in a mood. I am over it." Easter sat down in front of her, licking the white barb pensively as it watched her. She stroked its back. "I am, I promise. I just… I can't stand Ron!"

Chest thrumming, Easter padded over to some trunks, rubbing its side against it. The white barb passed by the trunk's lock and it melted away with a hiss. Eyes wide, Hermione hurried over to inspect the fizzling remains of the lock. Easter sat beside her, head tilted to the side as if wondering why she looked so shocked.

"What are you?" she inquired, pulling Easter into her lap. She caught hold of the bottom of the barb, which irritated the creature enough to hiss at her. "Shh. Quiet, Easter."

The tip of the barb was as sharp as its retractable claws but unlike the rest of the barb, the tip was black. There was no liquid to suggest it secreted acid, but she hesitated to touch it, gaze moving to the melted lock. Easter hissed again, swatting at her hand. She released the barb, frowning.

"I need the library."

When it stiffened in her arms, Hermione looked to see it staring at the door. It disappeared into her bag just as she started to hear footsteps approaching the luggage car door. She gathered up her things and ducked behind a pile of trunks before the door slid open. Two sets of footsteps walked in.

"Well?"

"It's here. It has to be."

"I don't see anything."

"I'm telling you. Just, calm down. I'll find it. Look, check this out."

Hermione peeked around the corner of a trunk to see two figures kneeling down near the lock.

"What is it?"

"Look at it. It's got to be here on the train."

"Well, where is it?"

"How the hell should I know? This thing isn't exactly precise. I just know it's on the damn train."

She slumped down further on the ground when they moved closer. "How do you suppose it got out?"

"That's not my issue. I need to find it before we get to Hogwarts."

"Damn, someone's coming."

Hermione rose up a little as the door slid open. "Damn. I told you this was a bad idea, Blaise."

"What are you doing back here, Nott?"

She frowned. _What was Nott doing back here?_

"That's none of your business, Zabini. But, seeing as this is off limits to anyone who's not a prefect, I can only imagine what you and Malfoy are doing over here."

"Your imagination is very dull, Nott. But, judging by your positions, I can see we're interrupting an incredibly intimate affair."

"Go to hell, Malfoy."

"My trunk is back here, Cruller, and I need something from it. And I don't see Nott turning us in, seeing as you're not supposed to be back here either. Now, move."

Hermione gasped as the trunks were knocked down on top of her during the scuffle that ensued between Blaise and Nathan Cruller. She managed her way up out of the trunks, only to find herself amongst four very surprised Slytherins. Feeling horrible from the hits she had taken from the trunks, she took a couple steps back to lean against the wall.

"What are you doing in here, Mudblood?" Draco snapped. She glared at him.

"I could ask you all the same thing."

"There's that tone," Blaise noted and Draco nodded.

"Like she has authority, when everyone knows she's not Head Girl."

Nott's eyebrow rose as his eyes flitted over Hermione. "You're not Head Girl?"

She lifted her chin, unwilling to be swayed in any way. "That's besides the point. You shouldn't be back here."

Nott chuckled. "That's disappointing."

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "Lord, Nott. Have some pride."

Hermione moved away from the wall. "I don't have time for this-"

"Woah, woah." Cruller grabbed her arm before she could get to the door. "What the hell were you doing in here, Granger?"

"That's none of _your_ business," she snapped, pushing him away forcefully. "And don't you dare grab me again."

Blaise laughed. "Not even muggleborns want you touching them, Cruller. How pathetic."

Hermione could sense some tension mounting between Draco and Blaise, and Nott and Cruller. The four Slytherins did not like each other and for good reason. While Nott and Cruller had openly supported Voldemort even though they did not actively fight during the last battle, Draco had disappeared at the last minute and Blaise had always been ambiguous about whom he supported. Their actions did not put Draco and Blaise in a good way with students who had been more vocal. Because of the way the final battle turned out, the Ministry pardoned all students so long as they had not actually fought.

Not that Hermione felt for any of them. They were all bad in her book and she wanted nothing more to do with them, especially Draco. She left quickly before the boys could say anything more. When she returned to her compartment, the others looked surprised at her appearance.

"What the hell happened to you?" came Ron's loud inquiry.

Hermione looked down at herself. Her clothes were a little ripped and her arms had some bruises.

"Nothing."

Nobody looked like they believed her. "Hermione, are you-"

"Will you all stop asking me that?" she muttered, sitting down. "I'm fine. I was…walking around."

"Where's your bag?" Luna asked. Hermione's eyes widened and she looked down.

"Oh no!"

She rushed out of the compartment towards the luggage car. It was empty now, with the trunks restacked. Her shoulder bag was nowhere to be found, however, and Easter would not respond when called. Flush with anger at herself for forgetting the bag, she hurried back to the compartment to make sure she had not kicked it under one of the seats. Ginny frowned at the vigor with which Hermione was searching for the bag.

"Hey, Hermione, calm down. I'm sure it will turn up. Where did you leave it?"

"Luggage car," she muttered absentmindedly, pushing Ron's legs aside to peer under his seat.

"What were you doing in the luggage car?"

Hermione cast Ron sideways look before going to the door. "I need to find my bag."

"Hermione, if it's not in the luggage car, then where else could it possibly be?" Ginny asked. The tips of Hermione's fingers got cold and she sank to her chair.

"Oh, this is so bad."


	3. Chapter 3

The platform flooded with students getting off the train and heading for carriages. Hermione was barely hiding her anxiety at this point as she peered around for any of the four Slytherins that could have pilfered her bag. She glimpsed Blaise getting into a carriage and started heading over when Harry hailed her.

"Hermione, we're getting into this one."

Growling in frustration, she joined her friends. As there was nothing she could do for the moment, she settled down into the seats and finally paid attention to her friends' conversation.

"I hear Theodore Nott's become Head Boy," Neville said. Ron snorted.

"How did that happen? After his involvement with Voldemort-"

"The pardons cleared all their records," Luna clarified, nose-deep in a Quibbler. "The academic records are still around and Nott is top of the class in Slytherin."

"How do you even know that?" Ron muttered and she glanced up at him.

"Why else would Theodore Nott become Head Boy?"

Ears red, he looked away from her. "Yeah, well. He's still a git. Fancy siding with Voldemort and then running back to the Ministry when his side bottoms out."

Nott's appearance in the luggage car came to her mind's eye. He was not incredibly attractive, but from the glint in his eye, he was more intelligent than he let on. The way he had looked at her was a matter of some consternation, but she dismissed it, instead choosing to mull over his presence in the luggage car. The curious exchange between Nott and Culler puzzled her, especially their interest in the lock.

"Zoning out again?"

Hermione glanced at Ron. "Ronald, I'm not in the mood."

"Leave her alone, Ron," Ginny snapped when Ron opened his mouth for a retort. "Gosh, can't you both just let it go?"

Taking a deep breath, Hermione nodded. "I'm fine. I'm sorry for how I behaved earlier. I've just been stressed about the new school year, that's all."

"It's okay, Hermione." Luna patted Hermione's arm without looking at the girl. "We understand. Things will go back to normal once school starts."

They all lapsed into silence until the carriage reached the castle. Students piled into the Great Hall, taking seats and looking around for old friends. Hermione finally managed to catch sight of all four Slytherins. Draco and Blaise were sitting towards the end of the table near the doors while Nott was at the front the table with most of the upperclassmen. Judging by visible rift within the students, there seemed to be a basic understanding amongst the Slytherins that Draco Malfoy was not someone to be associated with, and thus Blaise by association.

She watched all of them carefully, barely absorbing McGonagall's welcome back speech or the Sorting Ceremony. There was something, however, that brought her out of her reverie.

"I would like to announce our Heads for this year. Our Head Boy for the year will be Theodore Nott of the Slytherin House."

Nott stood with a smirk to a mixed reception. Most of Gryffindor was silent, but the other houses managed some applause. McGonagall waited for Nott to sit before continuing.

"Our Head Girl for the year will be Celeste Gibbons of the Ravenclaw House."

Hermione's stomach lurched painfully as Celeste, a beautiful petite strawberry blonde, stood and waved as the Great Hall filled with applause.

"I don't know her," Hermione muttered. Ginny shrugged.

"I think Luna knows her."

"She's cute."

Everyone turned to Neville, who blushed violently. "I'm just saying."

Hermione huffed and folded her arms over her chest. People were glancing over at her, some of them with pity, some of them with amusement. Celeste cast a superior look towards Hermione that probably made Draco Malfoy proud, then sat down.

"You don't like her, do you?" Ron inquired and she scowled.

"She's a bit stuck up, isn't she?"

At the disbelieving snorts from her friends, Hermione huffed some more and looked down at her plate in resignation. McGonagall spoke some more and then people started eating. Appetite gone, Hermione returned to watching the Slytherins. Draco and Blaise were in closed conversation, watching their fellow students in general distrust. Hermione wondered why so many of the Slytherins separated themselves from Draco. None of them had fought in the war and many of them had kept quiet on which side they supported. Perhaps it was that Draco had left the country all together, meaning he had needed no pardon from the Ministry. Harry had said very little about how the surviving Death Eaters had reacted to Draco's disappearance.

She looked over to where Nott was. He was regaling some students with a story but she could tell he was glancing at her every now and again. Frowning, she looked down at her plate. It was going to be a nightmare figuring out which one of them took the bag. Her eyes widened.

_What if he's not in the bag?_ she thought frantically and she looked around the hall. _If it got out, then it could be anywhere! Oh no, the train! Hogsmeade!_

Groaning, she let her forehead hit the table edge. "I can't believe this is happening to me!"

"God, Hermione!" Ron rolled his eyes. "Are you starting again?"

"Oh, go jump off a tower," she hissed. She strode out of the Great Hall, looking into every dark corner as she made her way towards Gryffindor Tower. "Easter!" she called softly. "He's probably not even in here…Easter!"

She gave up, knowing the creature probably was not anywhere near Hogwarts by now. Her trek to the portrait hole was made that much more depressing by the fact that she did not know the password, which forced her to sit there until a crowd of Gryffindors showed up. Hermione said nothing to her friends and, as soon as the portrait was opened, she went straight up to her room. She was safely tucked behind her curtains and under her sheets when the other girls wandered in.

"Is she asleep?" she heard Lavender ask.

"I can't imagine she'd want to be awake right now," Parvati said. "Poor Hermione."

"Oh, well at least we don't have to go through the rest of the year with her being all snobby. This way, she'll just be a barely sufferable know-it-all instead of an insufferable Head Girl. Did you see Celeste?"

"Of course I did. She looks as if she will be insufferable, too."

"She isn't so bad. She's smart, but she's not like Hermione. She's pretty social, you know."

"Hermione can be social."

"Hermione can be tolerable. Celeste is great to be around _all_ the time. Oh, did you see Harry? Oh my goodness, he's gotten so handsome!"

"So has Ron! Come to think of it, all of the boys have gotten so fit!"

Hermione covered her ears and closed her eyes to the tears coming.

_Please let it be tomorrow,_ she prayed earnestly. _Please just let it be tomorrow._

* * *

><p>As soon as dawn broke, Hermione was out of Gryffindor Tower. A restless sleep had done nothing to ease her anxiety over Easter's disappearance and, with classes looming, she knew she had little time before the day would be swept away from her.<p>

The search about Hogwarts was fruitless and she ended up in the Great Hall just as students were filtering in for breakfast. Hermione kept her eye out for Slytherins, wondering to herself why she was working so hard to retrieve this creature. Then she remembered the melted lock and the wondering vanished.

Harry and Ron walked in after a while, discussing Quidditch. She scowled at Ron.

"Ronald," she greeted coldly.

"Hermione."

"Oh, knock it off," Harry grumbled, sitting down across from Hermione. "Ron, stop being such a git. Hermione's got every right to be upset about not being Head since we both know that she deserves it more than anyone. Hermione, we're all sorry about you not getting Head Girl, but that's no reason to get so depressed. You're still the best witch in Hogwarts, so don't let Celeste get to you."

Harry took a deep breath and nodded. "Yep. That sounds good." Then he started piling his plate with food. Hermione and Ron stared at him for a minute before looking at each other.

"Sorry, Hermione," Ron muttered. She nodded.

"I'm sorry, too."

He smiled that smile she always liked and things were right between them.

Taking some bread, she started buttering it when Draco came striding in and went straight up to Nott.

"Stand up, you prat," he snapped. "Where the hell is it?"

Nott smirked. "What seems to be the problem, Malfoy?"

"Where _is_ it?"

The agitation in Draco's voice attracted attention from other students. Nott stood, facing Draco.

"I have thirty minutes before I am officially Head Boy, Malfoy," he said. "I will seriously make your life hell before that and then penalize you for it afterwards."

"Tell me where it is, Nott!"

"Well, seeing as it was never yours, I don't see how you can claim it."

"Screw you, Nott, it's mine."

"Well, when you find it, you can have it."

McGonagall approached with a stern look. "Return to your seat, Mr. Nott. Mr. Malfoy, you, too. The first day of class does not need to be stained by a fight."

Malfoy scowled but returned to his side of the table just as Blaise had come in. Hermione could see how amused Nott was about the turn of events, but she was more interested in the conversation. She could only imagine they were discussing her shoulder bag. Her stomach knotted. If they had her bag, then did they know about Easter? Somehow, she doubted it. Easter disappeared the last time someone had gone through her bag, replaced by potions' supplies. This thought gave her some comfort, but it did mean that, if Easter was no longer in the bag, then he was very much lost.

_Assuming that's what Malfoy was talking about in the first place,_ she thought pitifully, losing her appetite again and getting up.

"Hermione, we have thirty minutes before class," Harry pointed out. She sighed, sitting back down. "Aren't you going to eat?"

"I'm not hungry."

"You didn't eat anything last night."

"I'm not hungry."

Ginny pushed some bread towards her. "You should eat something."

Hermione rolled her eyes and stood. "I'm not hungry! Look, I need to get to the Library. I'll see you all later."

Luckily, the Library was pretty empty so she prowled the aisles, searching for the area on magical creatures. She had already scoured the Care of Magical Creatures book with no results. With only thirty minutes, she did not find too many but checked out what she did and headed to her first class with Binns. Blocking out the drone, she started flipping through a couple of the books she got, looking for anything about cats. There was plenty on felines in magic, but the pictures accompanying the text did not resemble the creature she had found.

The rest of the day continued on in such a fashion, with Hermoine skipping lunch in favor of the Library. By dinner, she had gone through five large tomes and gotten no nearer figuring out what it was that she was looking for. She checked out two more books before starting for the Great Hall, knowing that Harry and Ron would be looking for her. A sudden headache, however, sent her up the stairs instead of into the Great Hall, as she was in no mood to listen to Ron's unavoidable anecdotes with her head in such condition. In her weak state, however, she slid to the ground on the next floor and leaned against the wall as she tried to gather enough strength to hoist herself to her feet.

"What are you doing, Mudblood?"

She groaned, not even bothering to look up at her blond inquirer. "Go away, Malfoy. I don't have time for you."

"You look awful."

"You're very observant. Go away."

When no footsteps echoed off the halls, she lifted her head off her chest to look at him wearily. "Look, why don't you get whatever insult you have prepared out and then continue on to dinner because right now I am…" Her head spun and she groaned once more, holding her head in her hands at the pulsating pain.

"This is what happens when you neglect to eat all day," came Malfoy's uncommonly loud drawl. "A constant hunger to know everything useless in the world is not going to keep you from keeling over, Mudblood."

She couldn't even answer him, her head was throbbing so much. The clicking of his shoes as he walked away was the last thing she remembered before collapsing in a faint.


	4. Chapter 4

"Mr. Weasley, I must ask you to lower your voice. I do have other patients and your friend here will have a bit of a headache when she awakes."

"I can't believe this happened. Is she going to be okay?"

"Of course she's going to be okay. She fainted, Mr. Weasley. She wasn't knocked out. Ah, see. Here she comes."

Hermione blinked a couple times to clear her blurred vision and then looked around. Madam Pomfrey peered at her face with some concern.

"How do you feel, Miss Granger?"

Closing her eyes to the dull ache at the back of her head, Hermione tried to reach up and touch her temples but her arms were much too weak. Noticing, Madam Pomfrey turned to Harry and Ron, who were standing next to the bed.

"When was the last time she ate?"

"Yesterday," Ron answered quickly. "She wouldn't eat dinner and we didn't see her eat all today."

"Low blood sugar." Clicking her tongue in disapproval, the Healer disappeared into her office. Harry and Ron moved closer to Hermione, helping her sit up in bed.

"What happened?" she asked. "What time is it?"

"It's past dinner," said Harry as he tilted his head for a better look at her. "You fainted."

"Probably because you haven't eaten for more than twenty-four hours," Ron added. If she had strength, she would have been more visibly embarrassed, but the feeble sigh would have to do. Madam Pomfrey returned with a green vial.

"Drink this. It should tide you over until breakfast tomorrow, which I will have Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley ensure that you eat, understood?"

Hermione nodded and Madam Pomfrey helped her drink the contents of the vial. Immediately she felt better, with her headache gone and strength returning to her body. After saying thanks to the Healer, the Trio left the infirmary. Hermione kept her eyes on the floor, hoping that the boys would not question her about why she had missed so many meals. This was not the case.

"What's going on, Hermione?" Harry started when they were halfway to Gryffindor Tower. "What's this all about?"

She sighed. "Harry, I'm fine-"

"You fainted, Hermione." Ron turned to her and she could see he was genuinely concerned. "We all freaked out when we found out. We didn't know where you were."

"You didn't find me?"

He shook his head. "Madam Pomfrey did."

Hermione frowned. "Wait, what was Madam-"

"Who cares, Hermione," Harry said, taking hold of her shoulders. "You need to tell us what's going on. This is more than the Head thing, isn't it?"

She bit her lip, glancing between both boys. She felt awful keeping Easter's existence from them, but showing them was impossible, even if the creature had not run off. And she would never hear the end of it if they found out she had wandered into Knockturn Alley alone, especially since there were still plenty of Death Eaters that had not been caught yet, some suspected of frequenting Knockturn Alley.

"It's…it's nothing," she finished lamely and, judging by the exchange of looks between them, they did not believe her. _But what can I possibly say?_

"Alright, Hermione." Harry released her with a sigh. "We won't pry. But, for all that's holy, will you please eat something tomorrow? No running off without eating. We can't keep coming up to the infirmary because you refuse to eat anything."

She smiled and nodded. Her gaze passed over Ron. He seemed less satisfied with the resolution of events, but he managed a smile. Then his eyes lit up and he handed over her replacement shoulder bag.

"Madam Pomfrey found it with you. What were you doing, if you don't mind us asking?"

Good. They hadn't gone through her bag. She shrugged as they started walking again.

"I was checking some books out of the Library."

Ron rolled his eyes. "That's why it's so damn heavy."

Harry laughed as the two bickered back and forth all the way to the commons. Ginny and Neville were waiting up for them and Ginny hugged Hermione tightly when the older girl entered.

"How are you feeling?"

Hermione smiled at the concern. "I'm fine, Ginny. Thanks, though. I guess I just overexerted myself today. I forgot to eat."

"Forgot? You flat out refused!"

Blushing a little, Hermione shrugged. "I don't think it much matters, does it?"

"Well, I'm glad you're okay, Hermione," Neville said. "We were all really worried about you. Luna will be glad to hear you're alright."

Conversation moved to other things that had happened today and as much as Hermione wanted to participate, the books in her arms were burning holes through the bag. She held out for a few more minutes before faking a yawn and standing.

"It's been a really long day, so I think I'll head off."

The others waved goodnight and she hurried off to her room. After getting ready for bed, she slipped into her bed, pulling the curtains tight.

Her first instinct was to scream. Her second was to release a sigh of relief. There, in the corner of the dark space was a pair of golden orbs gazing at her. They moved towards her, that same popping sound accompanying them.

"Easter, you came back," she whispered as the creature crawled into her lap. "_Lumos_."

Easter hissed a little at the sudden light, but settled down in her lap as if he had not been gone so long. A wave of happiness rolled over Hermione and she spent several minutes just stroking the creature. But it soon tired of her attention and moved to an area past her arm's reach, keeping its eyes on her at all times. This did not bother Hermione, who just lay down and stared back.

"Where have you been?"

The tail slowed, that white barb swishing around above its head as it assessed Hermione. Swishing around like it had a life of its own, completely independent of the creature. Back and forth, back and forth it would go.

Hermione was asleep, the light at the tip of her wand went out, and the only things visible in the darkness were those bright golden eyes.

* * *

><p>Hermione felt wonderfully rested when she finally woke up the next day. She was ravenously hungry and very ready to face the school day. Her stomach sank, however, at not seeing Easter anywhere. She searched the room quietly until the other girls started waking up, forcing her to go shower and get ready for school. Down in the commons, Harry and Ron were already waiting for her, making it impossible to search for her elusive feline. The wonderfully rested feeling was gone, replaced by a lonely sensation one felt at being abandoned.<p>

"You feeling better today, Hermione?" Ron asked as they headed towards the Great Hall. She shrugged with a heavy sigh.

"I suppose."

"You certainly look better," Harry muttered.

"I'm sorry, I just…never mind. It's not important."

But it was. All through the breakfast she no longer felt like eating, she wondered at Easter's disappearance. Why had he showed up if he just planned on ditching her in the morning? To let her know that he was in the castle? She huffed, glaring at the lone biscuit on her plate. What did it matter if he was in the castle if he was not with her? She had come to think of him as her pet and for him to just up and leave like that was not helpful.

"What the hell?" Ron pushed himself away from the table when Hermione violently stabbed the biscuit. "What the hell, Hermione?"

She stood, gathered her things, and left without a word. Her bag had been stolen, her pet had abandoned her, and she still had not eaten anything.

The Library sounded like a good place to go while she waited for classes to start. She used her time there to pour over the books she had gotten but again there was nothing. She went to Madam Pince to inquire as she kept coming up empty.

"What kind of creature are you looking for?" Madam Pince looked at the books Hermione set in front of her. "These are some of the best books on magical creatures outside of those you would learn in class. I can't imagine they would leave anything out."

"I was looking for something on cats."

"This index has every cat in recorded history."

Hermione shook her head. "Not the one that I'm looking for."

Madam peered at her curiously. "What exactly are you looking for, Miss?"

"Well…I'm not quite sure. I just know it's not in any of these books."

The librarian shook her head and pushed the books back towards Hermione. "Well, then you will just have to make due. There are no more books on magical creatures available."

Sighing, Hermione left. Her day was starting off well enough.

Her first class was Potions and when she arrived in the dungeons, all of the students were still standing around waiting. Harry and Ron approached her with concern.

"You okay, Hermione?" Harry asked.

"You don't have a fork on you, do you?"

Hermione shot Ron a dark look. "I'm fine, Harry. I was just…upset about something, that's all."

Ron frowned but held up a napkin. "Here," he muttered. "You need to eat or Madam Pomfrey will have our hides."

She flashed an appreciative smile even though she did not feel like eating.

"Ah, so you did make it up off the floor," came Malfoy's familiar drawl as he and Blaise came down the stairs.

Hermione scowled. "No thanks to you," she snapped.

"As if I were going to use my own magic on helping you."

"You're an ass, Malfoy," Ron said. "So why don't you do what you do best and run like the coward you are."

The Gryffindors sniggered at that, none of them noticing how pale Malfoy got. Hermione noticed, though. He looked ready to pull his wand out, but Blaise stopped him with a hand to the shoulder.

"Don't waste a good curse on Weasley, Draco. His head is so thick, it would probably just bounce off."

"I don't see you even hitting me, Zabini," Ron snapped. "Your aims about as good as…well, comparing your aim to anyone's is just an insult to them, isn't it?"

Gryffindors howled and Hermione noticed that some of the Slytherins were amused as well. But Blaise did not seem to be too bothered. He just chuckled and turned to Draco.

"If he knew which redhead I've hit with my wand before, he'd keep his mouth shut about aim."

It took a moment for the implication behind that to sink into Ron. His eyes widened and he lunged for Blaise, which started a frenzy of people fighting or trying to escape the crowded hall. Hermione scrambled for a corner, only to find it occupied.

"What do you want, Mudblood?" Draco snapped. "Why can't you keep a tighter leash on your boyfriend?"

"Your friend's the one who started this!"

A group of students shoved Hermione straight into Draco. They both fell over onto the floor just as another fight started. With all of the feet pounding around them, Hermione pushed herself close to the wall and inadvertently closer to Draco. She put her arms over her head to keep it from being stomped by some overenthusiastic Slytherin who had started kicking her.

"_Impedimenta!_"

The Slytherin was gone and Draco was putting his wand away. He got up before she could say anything and shoved his way through the crowd.

"_STOP!_"

The frenzy stopped and people turned to the stairs to see McGonagall, Slughorn, and Nott standing there. The Headmistress had such a look of righteous fury on her face that even Hermione was afraid. Nott looked incredibly pleased with himself.

"One hundred fifty points from Gryffindor and Slytherin," she hissed. "Mr. Zabini, Mr. Weasley, detentions for two weeks. The rest of you, go to class or there will be detentions for everyone."

The door swung open and the students quietly made their way in. Hermione found Harry and Ron easily, both of them pretty bruised from their fights.

"I can't believe you, Ron," she whispered angrily. "How could you-"

"Oh, shut up, Hermione," he grumbled. Mouth clamping shut, she glared at him and looked away. She spotted Draco and Blaise sitting a couple rows away. The moment in the hallway flashed in her mind's eye. The Slytherin who had attacked her had been hitting Draco, too. He was defending himself by getting that student away from both of them.

But he could just as easily gotten up and the Slytherin would not have been able to attack him.

She frowned and looked down at her book. She still had not eaten.


	5. Chapter 5

It was dinnertime and Hermione had again gone the entire day without eating. The others had noticed and were trying to force her to eat under pain of telling Madam Pomfrey, but to no avail. Her mind was everywhere. Easter's disappearance, her inability to figure out what creature he was, her missing bag, Draco's behavior, and now Celeste's actions this afternoon were all spinning about in her mind.

After lunch, Hermione had Arithmancy and found that Celeste was also in the class. The strawberry blonde was fairly popular, especially amongst the boys, so it was no surprise that there were so many people surrounding her when Hermione came in. Hermione had just sat down when Celeste noticed her.

"I hear you got into a fight, Hermione," she called over. "I didn't think you were much for fighting during the school year."

Hermione sighed in a self-suffering manner. "I didn't get into a fight, if you must know."

"Oh, that's right. They were fighting because of you, right?"

Other students chuckled at this, but Hermione could only scowl and turn to her book. Celeste excused herself from her friends, coming to stand in front of Hermione.

"I'm sorry about that," she said with what Hermione assumed was meant to be a friendly smile. "I was just trying to have a bit of fun. We haven't actually met, but I know so much about you."

"I know so little about you."

Her smile turned sour. "I know that you're very intelligent, Miss Hermione Granger," she said, leaning in so that no one could hear them. "So I'll only have to say this once. Don't be such a bitter bitch. Nobody likes sore loser."

Hermione's lip curled. "Aren't you sweet?" she muttered cynically.

"I can be sweet as poison if I need to be." Celeste's eyes flashed in amusement. "I can see why they didn't pick you as Head Girl. Nobody wants a socially inept, problem starter as Head Girl. And you obviously can't be as smart as they say if I'm the one with a badge on my robes and you…well, you've got nothing on or in your robes, have you?"

Cheeks ablaze, Hermione could only watch dumbstruck as Celeste tossed her hair and strutted away.

So sat Hermione at dinner, with an empty stomach, a heavy heart, and an angry mind.

"Hermione, please eat," Ginny said as she placed a plate of ham and potatoes in front of her friend. "Please, you haven't eaten all day and Madam Pomfrey said-"

"I don't much care what Madam Pomfrey said."

Her irritable tone caught everyone's attention. Ron touched her arm.

"Hermione-"

She shook her head, offering Ginny an apologetic look. "I'm sorry. I just have so much on my mind right now and…oh, that girl!"

"Who?"

Hermione gestured to Celeste. "_Her_. She's just…insufferable!"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know. She seems okay to me."

"Of course she does, you're a boy." She stood up. "I have to do homework."

"But you have-"

"Alright, that's it!" She glared at them all. "If someone tells me I need to eat again then I swear I will curse you."

She had just passed into the Entrance Hall in time to see Nott and Cruller arguing in the corner. She hesitated only a moment before ducking into a corner.

"You're telling me its been in the castle the entire time?"

"Don't yell at me, Nott. I told you this thing isn't precise." She saw Cruller pull a black device out of his pocket. He tapped it with his wand and it unfolded, displaying something to the two boys. "Look, see! It's in the castle."

"_Where?_"

"I don't know! You know, this wouldn't have happened if you had kept it better secured."

"This wouldn't have happened if you had done what you were supposed to when we got the damn thing!" Nott shook his head. "Look, we need to find it. Arguing about it isn't going to help any. Come on, lets go look down in the dungeons. It's used to being in shadows. Lots of dark down there."

The two moved off and Hermione came out of the corner, more perturbed than ever. "Where are you, Easter?" she whispered, almost tempted to go after Nott. But she decided against it, having no excuse available for being down in the dungeons if she got caught. With a sigh, she went to the commons. She was still there doing homework when the others came in. She glanced up at them but did not offer a greeting as they sat down. She knew she should not have acted the way she did, but she was much too proud to admit any of that.

Hermione stayed up later than everyone else finishing her homework. The fire was dying out and a tired yawn signaled it was time to pack up. She collected her things and was about to head off to bed when her strength failed her and she dropped down into the couch. Curling up, she felt tears welling up in her eyes and huffed.

"This is ridiculous! What are you so sad about? It's not like you need a cat for anything…and Celeste is a self-absorbed prat anyway, so what do you care what she has to say about you! Get a grip on yourself, Hermione!" She wiped her face, sitting up. "You don't need to be Head Girl to be validated and you know you're a damn bit smarter than Celeste! You know that's the only reason everything else is bothering you. Not being Head Gir-oh!"

Out of the shadows leapt Easter, hissing loudly. It sprung into her bag, reducing its hiss to a low rumble. Hermione pulled the bag into her lap, smiling.

"Easter, you're back." She reached in for him and gasped at the scratch she received. "What's wrong with you?"

He just continued his growling and she sighed. "Fine." She got up to her room, thankful that the other girls were asleep. She quickly got ready for bed and returned to bed to find Easter still in the bag, though he was quiet now. When she had pulled the curtains and lay down on the bed, he crawled out and came up near her head, staring at her. She touched where he had scratched her, a little worried.

"What's going on, Easter?"

He curled up next to her chest and the white barb soon put her to sleep.

* * *

><p>As October rolled in, things returned to normal. Hermione had gotten into the swing of classes and had finally gotten to eating again. Most of this was due to her finally accepting Easter's presence as a nightly thing only. She had taken to doing her homework in her room so that she could spend more time with him. He became more amiable, rubbing up against her while she scribbled out essays, purring and once he licked her hand. The same one he had scratched and, to her concern, had not healed. But her mood improved so much so that she and Ron were on good terms, and Celeste rarely bothered her. She had even put a hold on the search for the bag, Nott's search, and Easter's identity. Malfoy's behavior had passed from her mind as well.<p>

On a particular weekend, Hermione woke up with Easter still asleep near her pillow. She dressed quickly, packed him away in her bag, and started out towards the Quidditch pitch. But as she made her way down the hall, Easter started to shift more. She had just gotten to the staircase when he released a hiss and slipped out of the bag.

"No!"

She sprinted down the corridor after that flashing white barb. Easter took a sharp turn around a corner and when she came around it, he was gone.

"No, no!" She looked around frantically, calling softly for the creature. A loud yell of surprise caught her attention and she rushed down the hall. She recognized the second floor girl's bathroom and came to a halt in front of it, hesitant to enter. Another yell, however, dispelled hesitation and she sprinted inside.

"Off, kitty!" she heard Moaning Myrtle yelling. "Go away!"

"Get the hell away from me!"

Hermione came around the corner to a strange sight. Moaning Myrtle floated up above the sinks with the same worrying look on her face she usually had. On the floor near the sinks was Draco fighting an odd little fight against Easter, who seemed unusually interested in getting to Draco's terrified face. Hermione broke into a smile and she watched as Draco continuously flung Easter away from him only to have the little cat dive back at him. Then the blonde pulled a wand and Hermione moved in.

"Easter, stop!" She reached for Easter, but he hissed and dove for Moaning Myrtle. The ghost girl shrieked and flew into her stall. Growling, Easter stalked back towards Draco. Enjoying Draco's predicament but not wanting to be responsible for anyone getting hurt, Hermione placed herself between Draco and Easter. "Easter, cut it out!"

Easter dropped to his belly, a low growl erupting from his throat as his tail twitched agitatedly. But he stopped. He even allowed Hermione to pick him up. With a deep breath, Hermione then turned around.

Draco stared up at Hermione and Easter with such confusion that Hermione was tempted to think he had never seen her before. His mouth hung open, his eyes were wide, and his chest was still heaving from the fight. She noticed his hand clench tighter around his wand and held Easter closer.

"Um…"


	6. Chapter 6

**So thankful for the great response to this story! Hope you continue to enjoy. Now, let's get back!**

* * *

><p>This was a nightmare.<p>

She cast a rueful glance at Easter. The creature was curled up on her pillow, licking his leg with little thought to her situation.

Hermione had taken off soon after collecting Easter, leaving Draco with that bewildered look on his face. She had no idea how she was going to deal with this.

"And it's all your fault!" she snapped at the uncaring feline. "What did you run to Draco Malfoy for?"

There was no way she was going to make it to the end of the day without a trip to McGonagall's office. She sank down on the bed, groaning. Draco's look was enough to convince her that she was going to be in some very serious trouble. She looked down at her still unhealed hand. McGonagall would probably think Easter was too dangerous to keep around people and they would take him away. Or, knowing Easter, he would disappear permanently.

"Why?" she whispered as Easter resituated himself on her pillow so that she had more space for her head. "Why would you…You wouldn't let Harry or Ron see you, but you went and _attacked_ Malfoy!"

The door opened and Easter disappeared into her bag. She sat up as Lavender leaned in.

"Hermione, there you are. Harry and Ron are looking for you."

She took her bag and followed Lavender back down to the commons. Harry and Ron were waiting for her.

"You didn't come to tryouts," Ron said with a frown. "Where were you? You said you would come."

"I'm sorry, Ron. Something came up."

Harry shrugged. "Okay, well. We'll tell you all about it at lunch."

"Is it already lunch?"

Ron laughed as they steered Hermione out of the commons. "We know eating is a foreign concept, but try to get on board."

Her heart pounded in her chest and she pulled the bag closer to her. "I don't think we have to go right now, do we?"

"Hermione, what's wrong with you? You're not going to revert, are you?"

"No!" She took a deep breath. "I just think that we could…"

Nothing. There were no plausible excuses.

They had just sat down for lunch when Draco strode in, eyes immediately going to the Gryffindor table. Hermione could see a strangely determined glint in his eye as he made straight for her.

"Oi, Mudblood!"

Her stomach sank. He was not going to make this easy. Ron and Harry turned when Malfoy reached the table.

"What the hell, Malfoy?" Ron growled.

"I'd say the same thing to you, Weasley," Draco snapped, eyes still on Hermione. "We need to talk."

"What are you on about, Malfoy?" Harry asked, reaching for his wand. "We don't have anything to talk about."

Hermione's pleading gaze caused Draco to pause. He glanced at Harry and Ron, and then his eyes fell on the bag Hermione was clutching. As it dawned on him that she had failed to tell her two best companions about the scuffle, a frown replaced his determination. His gaze met Hermione's and he straightened up.

"We need to talk," he repeated before striding away. She exhaled, stomach knotted painfully. Harry and Ron looked at each other before turning to Hermione.

"What was that about?"

She shook her head. "Nothing. He's just…well, you know Malfoy."

"Why does he want to talk to you?"

"I wouldn't know, Ronald. I don't presume to know what is going on in his mind."

Ron shrugged, satisfied with the answer. "Yeah, I suppose. So, why'd you miss tryouts? You said you would come with us."

"I told you. Something came up."

She endured Ron's stories about those who had tried out, but every time she glanced over at the Slytherin table, her anxiety rose. Malfoy had not even sat down with Blaise, choosing instead to pace and watch her closely. Harry noticed her distraction and looked over.

"Hermione-"

"Please Harry," she muttered, glancing at him. "Please. I just…I'm sorry Ron, but I have to go."

"But why?" He scowled. "You already said you finished all your homework, so what could you possibly have to do?"

"I don't have time to explain." She left, going up the second floor girl's bathroom.

"What are you doing here?" Moaning Myrtle asked when she came out of her stall. "Ah, you brought that thing with you! You were going to kill poor Draco, weren't you? Well, I won't let you! I'll haunt you, I swear I will!"

"Oh, quiet Myrtle." Hermione paced the bathroom until the door swung open and Draco strode in. They stood across from each other for a while in silence, Draco's eyes going immediately to the bag. She shifted, but before she could reach in, Easter sprung out and went straight for Draco. "Easter, no!" She caught him before he got to Draco, who had retreated a little. Easter stared at Draco from his spot in Hermione's arms, golden eyes unflinching. "Malfoy, I-"

"First of all, don't speak. Secondly, you could have gotten me killed because you've no idea what you have there. Third." And here, he straightened up, eyes narrowed on her. "Either you tell me what is going on, or I will get you expelled."

The tips of her fingers got cold and Easter's fur stood up straight at sensing her discomfort. Taking a deep breath, Hermione sat down on the floor and released Easter. Draco took several steps back, anticipating an attack by drawing his wand. But to both his and Hermione's surprise, Easter simply hissed at Draco and ducked under the sinks. His eyes could be seen glaring, along with the agitated little barb.

"I…I found him."

"Where?"

She scowled. _Why was he so nosy?_

"It doesn't matter. I found him."

He leaned down so that he could get a better look at the creature. "And you just thought you would bring a dangerous animal to Hogwarts to see what would happen?"

"He's not dangerous!"

"Where the hell were you an hour ago?"

Cheeks flush, she stood to face him. "He's never hurt anyone!"

"Says your hand."

She looked down. "This was an accident."

He snorted derisively. "Sure it was, Mudblood." A smile came to his face as he straightened up to face her. "So, why don't Potter and your boyfriend know about this?"

"What makes you think-"

"You didn't tell them it attacked me, Granger. Highly unlikely they know about it at all. Answer my question."

Hermione frowned. Draco seemed less interested in Easter and more interested in having a piece of information that neither Ron nor Harry possessed. Feeling completely out of her element in all things concerning Malfoy, Hermione was reduced to shrugging helplessly.

"I couldn't tell them," she found herself saying. "It…it disappeared when I tried."

The strangest look came to Draco's face. Her statement seemed to have confused him and he glanced at Easter as if trying to figure something out. Probably the same thing Hermione wanted to know. Why had Easter shown himself so thoughtlessly to Draco, her enemy, and completely disappeared when her friends showed up?

"Hermione's keeping secrets from Harry?" Myrtle interrupted with a laugh, earning herself an agitated glance from Hermione, who could not believe how awful her luck was. Not just for being blackmailed into explaining things to Draco Malfoy of all people, but that the most irritating ghost in Hogwarts outside Peeves was privy to her secret as well. Groaning, Hermione covered her face.

"This can't be happening!"

Draco recovered from his confusion, his trademark smirk returning with a vengeance. "We'll be in touch, Granger," he said before leaving. Hermione sank to the floor, feeling her appetite burn up like it had in the beginning of the year. Easter strolled over, rubbing against her leg and purring as if he had not just ruined the rest of her year.

* * *

><p>For a week, Hermione lived in a perpetual state of anxiety. She feared every owl that came for her friends or those that went to the staff table. Whenever a professor asked to speak to her, she would hold her breath until learning of what they wanted to talk about. The same held true whenever Harry, Ron, or Ginny came to her. During meals she would watch the Slytherin table, but Draco had suddenly taken to avoiding the Great Hall. Others had noticed as well and Nott even approached Blaise on the subject but to know discernable answer. Hermione did see Draco during Potions, but he never looked at her, which only made her nerves worse.<p>

At length, she returned to the girl's restrooms after Draco failed to turn up again at dinner. She found him at a sink with his back turned. When he heard her, he glanced over his shoulder.

"For someone who has an illegal animal living in Hogwarts, you don't keep much track of your pet."

Too curious to be worried about being near Draco, she moved to his side and gasped.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like," he muttered, grabbing a cup from off the counter and dipping it into what appeared to be bloody sludge that filled the sink. He dumped the cup's contents into a small bowl beneath the sink and then backed away, motioning for Hermione to do the same. Easter materialized out of the darkness and padded over to the bowl, sniffing it curiously. Hermione's eyes widened as he began lapping it up.

"You got him to eat."

Draco rolled his eyes, grabbing some paper towel to wipe his hands. "You've no idea what that is, do you?"

"Is this where you've been the entire time?"

"Of course." He glanced at her like she was an idiot. "Where else would I be?"

She could not believe she had not come up here before now. "But, wait, what…" Her head was spinning from the many questions she wanted to ask him, one of which was why he had not turned her in yet. He picked up on this and she was a little surprised at seeing a pink tinge come to his cheeks. But he turned away before she could see clearly.

"Do you know what this is, Mudblood?"

She forced herself not to hex him, making a mental note to do it after he had explained himself.

"You know what Easter is?"

His eyebrow rose. "Easter?"

"That's his name."

"You named a dangerous magical creature Easter?"

She pulled her wand. "I don't have time for this, Malfoy."

Shrugging, he went over to where his bag was. "Well, I'm sure you can effectively explain to McGonagall the presence of a dangerous _extinct_ creature on school grounds."

"He won't show himself to anyone. That's an empty threat."

"I'm sure, when McGonagall has the castle scoured, it won't be too hard to see it."

Hermione folded her arms over her chest, knowing she was going to get nowhere with him behaving this way.

"Fine, what do you want?"

The uncomfortable silence that followed caused Hermione to shift around. Draco kept his back to her for a little while before he sat down on the floor, staring at her curiously.

"Where did you get it?"

This again. She scowled at him. "What does it matter?"

"Because it interests me. Obviously you weren't with your two bodyguards when you discovered it. I can hardly imagine a reason you wouldn't have your boyfriend with you."

They stared at each other for a moment before Hermione dropped her gaze to the floor. "Knockturn Alley."

He frowned. "Knockturn Alley?"

"Yes, Knockturn Alley." She glanced up in irritation. "Are you going to tell me what Easter is or am I going to have to leave?"

His gaze moved to Easter, who was still lapping up the sludge. "Looks like a Mngwa."

She blinked. "A what?"

"Mngwa. I know not being Head Girl can be disconcerting, but do try and keep up, Mudblood. It's an African cat, but this one's pretty small. Very dangerous, though. How you got a hold of one is beyond me."

She noticed how he kept bringing up how dangerous it was. When she told him so, he shrugged.

"Because it is. That's what its known for, or so I've been told."

"How do you know so much about it?"

"Being a pureblooded wizard, I have access to information that you obviously wouldn't." He stood. "He's finished."

Easter moved away from the bowl and sat down to clean himself. Hermione sat beside him, stroking his back. He was incredibly calm and there was a gleam in his eye that had not been there before. She noticed how much better his coat looked as well.

"What did you feed him?"

Draco shook a long finger at her. "Ah, ah, Mudblood. Quid pro quo."

"What do you want?"

"Joint custody."

Her eyes widened. "He's mine!"

"He doesn't seem to care much for you during the day."

"How would you know that?"

"Because he's always in here." At her surprised look, he smiled. "You didn't know, did you? Where did you think he was?"

"He comes to my room at night…during the day, he just-"

"Disappears?" Draco shook his head. "You are completely hopeless."

"Listen Malfoy," she snapped, standing. "Easter is _my_ responsibility. I have had him for a while and I'm not just going to let you bully me into letting you take care of him."

He stood as well, walking over to her. "Well, since I seem to be the only other person in this school who he shows himself to, I don't think you have much of a choice."

She wanted to curse him so badly. Curse that stupid smirk off his face. But something in her told her that there was nothing to be done. If Easter was allowing Draco to see him as well as feed him, what could she do? Draco had found out where Easter was hiding out during the day when she couldn't, and he obviously had some information about the creature.

That didn't make it easier to agree to the situation.

At her sigh of resignation, he laughed. "Good, you do listen to reason."

As he headed back to his things, a thought came to her. "He was attacking you," she remembered aloud. "Why isn't he attacking you anymore?"

Draco could not hide the blush in his cheeks this time. "He wasn't trying to attack me," he grumbled.

"Then what was he-"

"He wanted to lick my face, Mudblood," he snapped before hurrying out. She stared after him, stomach tight. Her gaze dropped to Easter, who was also staring after Draco.

"Why are you doing this to me?"


	7. Chapter 7

"This is bad."

"You think?"

"Don't get smart with me. This isn't my fault."

"It isn't mine."

"You were supposed to watch him!"

"I have Quidditch practice, Granger. I don't have time for this."

She huffed and got up off the floor. "Well, I can't deal with this by myself."

"I have-"

"Quidditch practice, yeah, I know. God, you're about as useful as Ron."

If she had faced him, she would have seen a smile. Standing as well, Draco took a deep breath.

"Well, what are we going to do?"

She glared at him. "You're the one who's supposed to know everything about these things! You should have told me-"

"What? That it was going to grow? I've never actually _seen_ one, Granger. Why don't you use that stupid half-giant fellow? He knows creatures, doesn't he?"

"Don't you dare talk about Hagrid that way!"

Draco shrugged. "I don't care. But you have to deal with this. I have to go."

She glared after him before turning back to the broom closet they had been standing outside of. Easter lay curled around a bucket, tail twitching as it napped. But, unlike the tiny cat Hermione had found in the vase shop, this Easter was about the size of a large tabby. He had been growing ever since they had started feeding him and had taken to hiding in places other than Hermione's bed and the second floor bathroom. Draco and Hermione had chased him into the closet after he had taken off in a fit.

Sighing, Hermione closed the door. She could probably leave him there for a while and go find Hagrid. She found Harry and Ron in the Entrance Hall, already heading that way. As they walked down to Hagrid's hut, Hermione looked towards the Quidditch pitch where the Slytherin team was practicing.

Because of their schedules and Easter's unusual habits, Draco and Hermione had taken turns watching Easter as soon as he started getting larger and less afraid of prowling the halls during the day when there were less shadows to disappear into. The food that Draco had made also needed constant management, and while Draco had been unwilling to divulge the recipe, he had shown her how to tend to it. The whole situation had been tense at first, but Draco had been unusually helpful despite continuing to be disagreeable.

She felt Ron's hand take hers and blushed a little, glancing at him. He smiled while still talking with Harry. He had taken to doing things like that lately and it made her stomach do flips. It let her forget all of the stupid things she had to deal with but could not share.

"'Ello, kids," Hagrid greeted as they walked in. "Ron, I hear you've got a good group for Quidditch."

"We've got some good players this year."

"I hear you have some interesting students this year," Harry commented with a smile. Hagrid laughed.

"Them two first years, huh? Got into a bit-o-trouble o'er the Forbidden Forest. Reminded me of you three."

"What kind of creatures are you teaching this year, Hagrid?"

"Got permission to do hippogriffs again. Might even get permission for a dragon or two."

"A dragon, Hagrid?" The trio exchanged worried looks. "You think that's safe?"

"Ah, you know dragons ain't so bad. 'Specially you, 'Arry!"

Harry shook his head in disbelief. Hermione shifted, glancing out the window towards the pitch.

"Um, Hagrid. Have you ever heard of a Mng…Mngwa?"

Hagrid's startled expression caused Hermione some worry. "Mngwa? Where'd ya hear of somethin' like that, 'Mione?"

Hermione shrugged nonchalantly. "Just heard about it. What is it, Hagrid?"

"Don't know much about them other than they're on the Ministry of Magic's danger list. Five X's. Very deadly."

"And you don't know anything about it?" Harry looked disbelieving. "Come on, Hagrid. We know you've got an affinity for things a little more unusual-"

"This ain't just some unusual creature, 'Arry," Hagrid snapped with such force that the Trio leaned in. Hagrid wiped his sweating brow, glancing around. "Ain't supposed to talk about it, its so dangerous. I wouldn't mess with one to save my life, I tell you. Would be best to leave well enough alone."

"I couldn't find any information about it."

Hagrid's eyes widened. "You was looking for it? What the hell for?"

Hermione could not believe how severely Hagrid was reacting to the mention of a Mngwa. "Hagrid, I don't understand why-"

"It's not something ya just go lookin' for. It's a dangerous animal, and rare. Don't even know if they still exist."

"But there must be information about them."

"You leave it alone, 'Mione. It's not information for students."

Frowning, Hermione sat back in her seat. Hagrid's words had her remember the Restricted Section of the Library. Her eyes lit up. Why hadn't she thought of it before?

"Hagrid, I need to go," she said, standing. "I have to speak to Professor Slughorn about something."

"Hermione, I thought you already finished your homework-"

"I'll be in for dinner, Ron," she called over her shoulder on her way back. She got to Slughorn's office quickly and found him pouring over some essays.

"Hi, Professor."

He smiled and gestured her in. "What is it that you need, Miss Granger?"

"I was hoping to get your help on the potion's essay. You see, I know we're supposed to research on ancient potions, but the class book only has so much and I really want to get some more detailed history into the potions I'm writing about."

His face lit up and his chest puffed out. "Well, it's so wonderful to see a student such as yourself take a real interest in research, Miss Granger. I can, of course, offer some of my own knowledge, but I fear that is as much as is available."

"Really?" Hermione huffed. "Not that I won't be happy for your expertise, but when I'm writing it all, I'll need more than just you as a citation. You asked for ten sources, remember?"

"Hm…" Slughorn looked around at his own personal library before smiling. "I have an idea. Come with me, Miss Granger."

Hiding her own smile, Hermione followed after her professor. As she suspected, he headed straight to the Library.

"Madam Pince, I'll be taking Miss Granger back to the Restricted Section with me."

"I don't think Miss Granger need to go back there!" Madam Pince called, but Slughorn dismissed her, moving passed the roped off entrance.

"She's a little bit of a straight hat, hm?" he said with a chortle. He looked about before turning to her. "No point in hanging about. I'll check this way and you look around in this area, okay?"

She nodded and started down the aisle. Making sure she found at least one tome on potions, she then prowled about for anything on creatures.

Slughorn was waiting for her by the entrance with a couple books of his own. "Give me the names of the books you got and I'll sort it all out with Madam Pince. These will get you all the information you need."

"Thank you so much, Professor!" Hermione hurried off. It was too close to dinner to go to Gryffindor Tower so she went straight to the Great Hall. Harry and Ron came in a few minutes later, perplexed looks on their faces.

"Where did you run off to?" Ron asked as he settled in beside her.

"Library with Professor Slughorn. He got me into the Restricted Section."

"What did you need in there?"

"Potions stuff." Her stomach knotted at lying to them, but it was not a new feeling. Ever since Draco had entered the equation, she had been lying quite a bit to cover her disappearances in between classes and on the weekends. "He was able to let me borrow a few books."

"Hey, what was up with the questions at Hagrid's?" Harry inquired. "You got Hagrid pretty upset. He wouldn't talk much after you left."

"Really?" She frowned. "I didn't know."

"That thing you were talking about. Where'd you hear about it?"

"I told you. I just heard someone mention it and couldn't find anything about it in any of the books in the Library."

"Well, maybe you should let it go. Hagrid seemed pretty shaken about it."

Hermione nodded. "Of course. It was just curiosity."

Ron looked to the entrance and rolled his eyes. "Trying to look like you're doing something about your horrible game plan, Malfoy?"

The Slytherin team stopped, turning to the humored Gryffindor table. Malfoy, however, did not even hear Ron, going straight to the table where Blaise was waiting for him. While Ron and a few other Gryffindors continued to taunt the Slytherin team, Hermione could tell Draco was more interested in what Blaise had to say. A dark look came over Draco's face and he looked over at Nott. Then he looked to Hermione. She frowned, glancing at Nott. What was going on?

Dinner passed quickly and they all soon returned to the commons. Hermione excused herself from the others after a while, inventing some excuse about going to see Slughorn. Draco was already in the lavatory, stirring the sludge. Easter sat in the sink next to his, watching the spoon go slowly around in the bloody mess he would eventually eat.

"What exactly are you putting in that?" she asked, setting down her things to greet Easter, who had jumped down from the sink. "Hey, baby. Got tired of the broom closet, huh?"

"Had to tempt him out," Draco grumbled. "Used the rest of my supplies."

"Well, there's a Hogsmeade trip next weekend, so we should be able to stock up." She hefted Easter into her arms and approached the sink. "What is it that we need?"

"I can get the supplies myself."

"Why won't you tell me?" She shook her head in disbelief. "I could help-"

"I don't need help, Mudblood." He glanced at her agitated features and smiled. "You can stir."

"I don't want to stir."

"Then do something else. But I don't need your help with the ingredients."

"Hey, Malfoy."

He looked at her and she shoved him to the floor. "Don't you call me a mudblood again," she hissed at his surprised expression. She stalked back to her bag. "I found some books," she muttered after a while had passed and Draco had gone back to the sludge. He set down the spoon, coming over as she pulled out two tomes. She set Easter down and opened up the first tome. Draco stood a little behind her, looking over her shoulder at the pages.

"Where did you get these?"

"Restricted Section."

His eyebrows rose. "Seriously? How did you get in there?"

"Intelligence. I know not being quick can be disconcerting, but do try and keep up, Malfoy."

She smiled at his dark look. He crossed his arms over his chest, trying to hide his awkwardness by showing more interest in the tome.

"Is it in there?"

She glanced up at him. "Why don't you look through the second one?"

Frowning, he sat down next to her and pulled the other tome up. For ten minutes, the only sound in the lavatory was the simmering of the sludge and Easter cleaning his fur. Hermione and Draco kept glancing at each other, feeling strange sitting so close to each other.

"Here."

Hermione leaned over to look at the page Draco had indicated. "_A Mngwa is an incredibly dangerous enormous feline. Ferocious and bloodthirsty, it can use the shadows to move undetected and stalk its pray. It can kill with a single bite of its sharp jaws or swipe of its claws. No successful attack or capture of the beast has ever been made and no survivors of its attacks have ever been recorded. Its habitat is in Tanzania, though it has been sighted in other parts of Eastern Africa. The Ministry of Magic has classified this creature XXXXX. Do not approach under pain of death._"

There was a brief description of a darkly colored cat the size of a horse. Hermione and Draco looked up at Easter. He curled up in the shadows underneath the sink so that they could only see his burning eyes. Hermione covered up a dismayed gasp with her hands.

"What did I do?"

Draco swallowed hard, turning the page. "There isn't anything else here. No picture, just the description." He shut the book, shaking his head. "You sure know how to pick them, Granger."

"This isn't the time, Malfoy!" Her breathing got heavier. "Oh my gosh, what did I do?"

Draco looked at her, surprised at how badly she was taking this. "Granger, calm down-"

"I brought him here and he could completely kill someone!" Hermione scrambled to her feet, clutching her stomach as she tried to catch her breath. "This can't be happening to me. Not again!"

He got to his feet, catching her by the shoulders. "Will you stop this!" he hissed. "Someone's going to hear you outside!"

"You let me go!" She shoved him away and stumbled over to a stall, shutting herself up inside.

"Damn it, Granger!" Draco kicked a stall post, causing Easter to growl. Backing away from the creature's location, Draco pounded on Hermione's stall. "This isn't going to solve anything! There is nothing we can do about this right now, so get out here! God, Granger! Grow a freaking spine and get out here!"

The door swung open and she was standing there glaring at him. "Grow a spine? That's rich coming from you. At least Nott and the others stuck around. You ran like a coward. Wouldn't even stand up for what you believed in, however misguided it was!"

Hermione found herself up against a wall, tip of a wand underneath her chin, and Draco's enraged face terribly close to hers.

"You and your lot think you're so bloody clever, throwing around words like coward," he whispered. His grip on his wand turned his knuckles bone white. "Think you know everything because Potter's the bloody savior of everyone, right? Well, let's get this straight, because I'll have no more of this coward stuff from your lips. I went to France…I went to France to protect my mother, Granger."

"Your moth-"

"Don't interrupt!" He slammed his fist into the wall next to her head, gray eyes so stormy they sent a pang of fear through Hermione. "My mother. I had to protect her from my father and his ill-advised pacts with You…with _him_. If I had stayed, she would be dead and, in all likelihood, so would I." He leaned in, nose almost brushing hers. "And don't you ever compare me to that piece of shit Nott. You give him a pass because he carries that shiny Head's badge and he stuck around? Well, he's got no interest in you past what's under those robes, so let's reserve who we pronounce honorable just because he didn't turn tail and run. He's a complete psychopath, Granger. Don't you _ever_ compare me to him."

She trembled. It was involuntary and horrible, but she did it anyway. His gaze bore into her, daring her to contradict him. Daring her to say anything. But she couldn't.

She just trembled.


	8. Chapter 8

By the time Hermione had calmed down, it was past curfew. With plenty of floors, prefects, and professors between herself and the Gryffindor commons, Hermione began panicking again. Draco took a couple minutes of it before making the oddest suggestion.

"Just come with me," he grumbled. She stared at him in the same way many people stared at Luna. Cheeks flush, he picked up his things and started for the door. "Fine, stay here!"

"No, wait!" She hesitated, obviously reluctant to go along with him. Spending a night in Draco's company was not her idea of a good time and it made her just as nervous. But she also did not want to stay in the lavatory with Moaning Myrtle, who had taken to being incredibly unpleasant to Hermione when Draco was not around. There was no way she would make it up to the Gryffindor commons without any kind of invisibility device. "Okay, I'm coming."

Easter was too heavy for her bag, but he followed along in the shadows as the two students carefully made their way down to the dungeons. Hermione's gaze wandered everywhere, having never been this particular way before, but she also kept close to Draco. When they were near the portrait hole, he had her stay out of sight while he went to open the door. He was gone for several minutes, heightening Hermione's anxiety so much that she was about to take her chances going all the way up to the seventh floor. Draco returned before she could make her move, however, and she followed him through the open door.

She remembered Harry and Ron's descriptions of the commons from second year and found that nothing much had changed. The commons were empty and even the portraits were all asleep. Draco gestured for her to take off her shoes before they continued down a dimly lit hallway. He stopped at the fourth door and opened it with a key from his pocket.

The room was surprisingly similar to the bedrooms in Gryffindor save for the color scheme and there were only two beds in this particular room, leaving more space for trunks and desks.

"Why are there only two beds?" she asked as Draco put his things in his trunk on the left side of the room.

"No questions," he snapped. He pointed to the bed on the right side. "You can sleep there."

"I'm not sleeping in here with you!"

"Then you can get the hell out of here. Good luck getting to your common room."

She glared at him but moved over to the bed. "Whose bed is this?"

"Blaise's."

"Won't he come in?"

"He's going through a spell of insomnia. He hasn't touched the bed in two weeks."

"Then where is he?"

"God, you ask a lot of dumb, useless questions." He turned to her. "Go to bed."

"I need to brush my teeth."

His mouth opened, but nothing came out and he settled on flicking his wand at a closet. It opened up, revealing a basin full of water below a mirror and some hand towels neatly folded to the side. A dish of soap was next to the basin. He grabbed some clothes from his trunk and walked out. Hermione set her bag down just as Easter stepped out of the shadows behind Blaise's trunk, sniffing the room. She avoided him as she went to the basin, finding some extra toothbrushes and toothpaste in the cabinet below the basin. Splashing her face with cool water helped relieve some of the anxiety she had been feeling since Draco read from the tome.

"I can't believe this is happening to me," she said, looking over at Easter. A dangerous animal is what Hagrid had said. Hagrid, who believed dragons were friendly enough to be pets. No survivors. No known ones.

She shook her head as logic started to kick in. If this were really that Mngwa creature, then Hermione would have been dead at the antique shop. Easter was irritable at some points, but on whole he had been a good pet. Very amiable, at least with Hermione and Draco. No, this was not the same creature. This could not be.

"Are you done, Granger?"

Hermione moved to her designated bed as Draco went to the basin to wash up. He had changed into some green drawstring pants and a shirt, something she had never imagined she would see him in. He was rather trim, like Ron, with muscular arms and a lean torso. Shaking her head to get rid of the thoughts, she reminded herself that she was sharing a room with Malfoy and that there was no amount of trimness that could dismiss that. She looked down at her clothes and shifted uncomfortably.

"Um…Malfoy?"

He glanced at her. "What?"

She rolled her eyes. "_You_ invited me down here. You don't have to take a tone. I just…I need something to sleep in. I can't sleep in this."

His eyes moved over her briefly and, after brushing his teeth, he pulled some things out of his trunk and tossed them to her.

"You can burn them when you're finished, as I'm sure Blaise will ask you to do with the sheets."

She looked down at the clothes and then at him again very pointedly, cheeks aflame. "I have to change."

Draco got into his bed and yanked his drapes closed, ending any more conversation. She got into her own bed and closed the curtains before changing into the cotton shorts and shirt he had given her. Folding her clothes neatly at the end of the bed, she settled down into the sheets. She could hear Easter padding around the room and pulled the curtain back to see him pawing at Draco's curtains. He mewed loudly, something she had never heard before. The curtain drew back, revealing Draco's tired face. He stared down at Easter before moving out of the way so that the creature could leap up into the bed. Then, with a fleeting look towards Hermione, he released the curtains. Hermione retreated back into her own bed, and listened to Easter's low hum and the dreadful quiet of two people trying desperately to ignore each other's presence.

* * *

><p>Easter was gone when both students woke up, but Blaise was present, much to Hermione's dismay. He was sitting at his desk, already dressed for school as he finished up some homework. When Hermione drew back her curtains, he only glanced at her.<p>

"Malfoy will be back shortly," he said. "He will let you out of the dungeons."

She frowned. Had Malfoy told him about what they were doing? As if he had heard her, he shook his head.

"I don't want to know what you two are up to. It's not my concern if he decides to take up with muggleborns."

Flush from embarrassment, she just nodded and went to the basin to wash up. She changed back into her other clothes within the privacy of the bed curtains and opened them to find Draco waiting for her. Blaise put down his quill to look at his roommate.

"Am I to guess this is going to become a habitual thing?"

"No!" both said emphatically. Blaise nodded.

"I'll leave the sheets on, then, Granger. Do bring some of your own clothes, though, next time?"

"She's not coming back," Malfoy snapped.

"Of course not. I'll see you at breakfast, Draco."

Grumbling under his breath, Draco led Hermione back through the deserted commons. She could tell the whole situation had fouled his mood and decided that this was no way for the two of them to continue.

"I'm sorry."

He stopped and she ran into him. They were still in the dungeons so she was a little nervous as he turned to her, glaring.

"Excuse me?"

She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. "I'm sorry. About what happened. About what I said. You're right, I had no right to call you a coward. I guess, when you're trying to protect Harry, everyone who won't stay looks like one. I should have had all the facts first."

His eyes narrowed. "What is this about, Granger?"

"We…I have a problem. Easter…I don't know if he's that Mngwa thing or some other creature in one of those books. But he's my responsibility and…and he is yours, too. So arguing amongst ourselves isn't going to help us, especially if he gets bigger. I don't like you, Malfoy. And you certainly don't like me. But we have to at least try to coexist while Easter's still here at the castle."

Again, an odd look passed over Malfoy's features when she mentioned how they did not like each other. But it disappeared and he turned away from her.

"Fine, whatever."

"Thank you."

His body stiffened. "What?"

The words tasted like metal in her mouth, but she repeated them. "For letting me stay here."

For a while, he said nothing. She wondered if someone had ever thanked him for anything before. He soon snapped out of his reverie and moved at a brisk pace to get out of the dungeons. When they reached the ground floor, he hesitated, unsure if he should continue on with her. Her stomach tightened, but she ignored it and continued on without looking back at him.

Hermione got to the commons without incident and was able to shower and change without waking her roommates. She had put the clothes Draco had lent her in her bag. After a moment's hesitation, she shrunk them down and tucked them into a pocket in her schoolbag. Harry, Ron, and Ginny were all sitting in the commons when she returned.

"Where've you been, Hermione?" Ginny inquired.

"I was taking a shower-"

"You didn't come back last night," Ron said, clearly concerned. She tried to act nonchalant, shaking her head to dismiss the statement.

"Of course I came back-"

"We waited up until two," Ginny pointed out.

"Well, Ron stayed up until two," Harry clarified with a yawn. "What happened? I thought you were just going to talk to Slughorn?"

"I did, but something else came up and-"

"You know, Hermione, there have been a lot of things that just come up." Ron pulled her down into the seat beside his, holding her hand tightly. "You're starting to worry us all."

She was starting to miss the quiet of Malfoy's room, a thought that made her cringe inwardly. "I'm sorry I worried you all. It won't happen again, I promise."

"You haven't told us what _it_ is, Hermione!"

"Because it's private." She stood with a sigh. "Look, can we just go to breakfast?"

It was not hard to tell that her friends were not done questioning her. Ron especially looked worried that something serious was going on. It was, but he couldn't know that. The walk to the Great Hall was long and silent, allowing Hermione to think over last night.

Draco's confession about his absence during the war bounced around in her mind, along with his strange kindness, if one could call it that, by letting her stay in his room instead of risking a certain detention for being caught past curfew. He seemed less hostile, outside his outburst, and she realized that she had not been too bothered staying with him. In fact, once she had fallen asleep, she had rested quite well.

What actually bothered her was Easter.

The description in the book had been brief only because so few people had ever seen the creature and lived, and most of it was just speculation anyway. Then there was its habitat, Tanzania. If Easter was indeed an Mngwa, then how had it gotten to London? And why had he not killed Hermione immediately?

They passed into the Entrance Hall just as Nott and his friends appeared. She noticed the look he gave her and was reminded of Draco's words. A light blush came to her cheeks and she pulled her robes closer around her. Why Draco had thought she needed to know what Nott was thinking was beyond her.

Finding herself at the table, she looked down at her plate and her lip curled. Why did her appetite always suffer when there was so much on her mind?


	9. Chapter 9

**Thanks to reviewers! You will be rewarded next chapter!**

* * *

><p>With a Hogsmeade trip the day before the first match of the season, students were all a buzz as they made their way down into town. Hermione walked with the others including Luna and Neville, but none of their conversation registered. She was more concerned with how to get away from them to go meet Draco.<p>

Over the week, Easter had gotten larger, standing about an inch above her knee now. With this growth, he had refused to eat and had taken to scratching at the walls. This would have been okay had he remained in the lavatory, but after a third year had noticed some odd marks on a fourth floor wall, Hermione and Draco had to take action. They scoured the books Hermione had procured and discovered some caretaking methods for magical felines. Also, because Easter no longer ate the bloody sludge, Draco had no choice but to enlist Hermione's help in looking for something different to make. He had sent her an owl that morning telling her to meet him around the corner of Dervish's.

"Come on, Hermione," Ron said, taking her hand. "Let's get some butterbeer."

She inwardly groaned. She knew she did not have time for this, but she had also spent little time with Ron and she knew he wanted to do something with her this trip. He was already dragging her towards the pub.

"Um, Ron."

"Yeah, Hermione?"

"I…I can't." She pulled Ron to the stop, forcing the others to stop as well. "I can't. I have to be somewhere."

Instead of being disappointed or even upset, Ron instantly became suspicious and she could tell the others were just as wary.

"You have to be somewhere other than with your friends?"

"I have some responsibilities-"

"You're not Head Girl, so what responsibilities do you bloody have, Hermione?"

She couldn't believe how mad Ron was getting. He had released her hand and was now glaring at her.

"I have other responsibilities Ron-"

"Like what?"

"I can't…I don't want to leave, Ron, but I just have something I need to do. But I'll be back later and we can-"

"You can't stop doing anything serious to have fun, can you?"

"That's not fair! I have done plenty of things-"

"When?" he roared, attracting attention. "When, Hermione? Because, for the last few weeks, you've been disappearing on us and then you just want me to accept it?"

"I want you to trust me!"

"Well, guess what? I don't."

The air was knocked out of her faster than if he had simply hit her in the stomach. Her heart sunk in her chest and, no longer willing to stand around with them, Hermione took off down the road. Draco was standing outside an alleyway when she came his way. His eyebrows rose at her teary eyes and flushed face. But, to her surprise and thankfulness, he kept whatever comments he had to himself and ducked into the alley. She glanced around before following him down the length of the alley to a nondescript side shop that looked like it belonged on Knockturn Alley.

Inside, the air was warm from a brilliant fire burning to the side of the sizable shop. There were aisles and aisles of magical ingredients, most of them for potions but others for food. A dwarf was busy sweeping when the two entered. He nodded to Draco and gestured to some large, plush chairs near the fire.

"Would you like something to drink, Mister Malfoy?" he inquired. Draco shook his head.

"We're shopping."

"I'll bring some tea and biscuits then."

Draco turned back to Hermione, who was busy wiping her face. At his look, she rolled her eyes.

"What?"

He actually smiled. "Told you Weasley was thick." He pulled out some pieces of parchment and handed a couple to her. "Let's get started, Granger."

She moved off down one aisle and he took another. Draco had found a recipe for a variation of sludge suitable for magical felines that contained deathcaps. They also found some recipes for potions the caretaking section of the tome suggested would help keep the feline docile, promote good health, and add sheen to the coat.

The dwarf returned from a backroom with a tea tray. He set it down by the fire and then came over to Hermione.

"Need help, Miss?"

"I can't find the wolfsbane," she muttered, running a finger over a shelf.

"It will be on the other side, miss. Anything else?"

She could see Malfoy moving around a few aisles down and turned to the dwarf. "Does he come in here often?"

"When the students come into town, yes. Sits and reads mostly, but occasionally he makes a purchase. Nothing like wolfsbane or deathcaps, though. Must be a pretty potion you two are concocting, hm?"

Hermione just smiled and the dwarf walked off. Draco came around the corner with a bag full of ingredients.

"Are you done?"

"I just need the wolfsbane."

"I have it already. Come on, let's go."

"What about paying?"

Draco rolled his eyes and turned to the dwarf. "Put it on my tab."

Hermione's eyes widened. She had seen some of the prices on the items and they had purchased several kilos worth of products.

"I can pay-"

"Don't get prideful, Granger," he said as he made for the door. "Well, come on, will you?"

She muttered a goodbye to the dwarf and followed Draco out. Everything was so cool compared to inside and she shivered as her eyes became teary. But instead of blinking them away, she just let them spill over onto her cheeks. Draco turned around upon realizing nobody was behind him to see Hermione standing there by the door, face in hands.

"What is it now, Granger?"

"Go away, Draco," came her muffled voice and he smiled.

"That was convincing."

"This is ruining everything!" She pulled her hands away so that he could see her anxious expression. "I just…Ron doesn't trust me! None of them do. And I keep lying to them about Easter, and about you! Then Easter might be this murderous catastrophe that's growing every single day and it's all my fault!"

He returned to her side as she started crying into her hands again. "Granger, this isn't the time."

"Well, then when am I supposed to have a nervous breakdown, Malfoy? When it's convenient for you?"

Setting his bag down, he took a deep breath and placed his hands on her shoulders. This action immediately stopped all crying as she looked up at him in shock.

"_We_ are going to make sure nothing happens, understood?" he said slowly, face set as he peered down at her. "We are the only ones who know that thing is there and as long as we're careful, nothing's going to happen."

"But if he-"

"_Nothing_ is going to happen."

He said it so definitively that Hermione believed him. She wiped her face before nodding. She kept thinking of this whole predicament as if she were completely alone. Draco was there and, though she did not like thinking about it, they had each other to rely on. He had not betrayed her secret to anyone so far, not even Blaise. His presence had actually been helpful and she would never admit that she had started enjoying his disagreeable company. Talking to Easter had made her feel like one of those old spinsters. At least with Draco there was conversation to be had, even if it was just them arguing.

She realized that he was still holding her and looked up at him. Cheeks warming, he released her quickly and snatched up his bag.

"Let's go," he muttered gruffly, moving past her. "There's a bookstore I want to check out." Her stomach felt strange and she turned to watch his retreating back. Why did her stomach feel so strange?

They visited another shop that was off the main road, this one also tended to by a dwarf. Hermione waited at the front while Draco picked out a few books on foreign magical creatures. After leaving, they took a back way through Hogsmeade to avoid being seen together. It was longer, but she enjoyed the walk. Though their conversation was restricted to the potions they were going to make, it was pleasant enough. Neither of them made any cynical remarks of the other. Hermione did notice that Draco was making a rather pointed effort not to look at her and she wondered if it had to do with what happened back in town.

When they reached the castle, they split up so that students lingering around in the castle would not suspect anything. Easter was waiting for them, chest humming as he rubbed against them in greeting. Hermione started laying out the ingredients while Draco retrieved their supplies from Myrtle's stall. The distressed ghost appeared in front of Hermione, more upset then usual.

"You went to Hogsmeade together?" she inquired when Draco returned. "I thought you'd come see me today, Draco. See me _alone_."

Hermione frowned up at Myrtle. "We had things to do. I can't see why it should matter if he sees you now or alone some other time."

"I'd rather see Draco when you're not around. He's much more pleasant when you're not around."

Draco smirked. "There's a reason for that."

"I doubt he's any different now then when he's alone with you, Myrtle," Hermione snapped. "Why don't you talk to him if you're so intent on seeing him?"

"He's not paying attention to me!" Myrtle wailed. "He only pays attention to you!"

"Does not. Stop being silly Myrtle. If you're going to be a pain, then I'm going to ask you to leave us alone."

"You see how she treats me, Draco! Make her treat me better."

"He will do no such thing!" Hermione glared at Myrtle. "Stop this, Myrtle. Malfoy pays more attention to you then he does to anyone, so stop being so silly."

With a wail, Myrtle flew into her stall. Hermione turned to Draco, who had an amused look on his face.

"What?"

He shook his head and started a fire under the first cauldron. "Nothing, Granger. Absolutely nothing."

She frowned. "Yeah, well…let's do this one first. I'm not sure if I want to feed him just yet."

"You think he'll appreciate that?"

They looked up at Easter and then at the walls of the lavatory. The grooves where Easter had put his claws were getting progressively deeper. Draco's gaze dropped to Hermione's bandaged hand. He took her by the wrist, unwrapping the bandages.

"It's still bleeding," he muttered. A couple of the scratches had healed, but the others were still bright red. Long shiny scars remained of the healed ones. But Hermione was not too concerned with that. She was more concerned with Draco's hand on her wrist. She knew she should have pulled away immediately, but her heart was pounding to loudly and his hand was surprisingly warm.

"I think we should wait," came out of her mouth.

"Yeah, you're probably right."

Their eyes met and Hermione wished she had something else to say. Something she could do to get her out of his gaze. It was so pensive that she hoped she did not appear silly staring back at him. Why was he looking at her like that?

He dropped her hand and his gaze, picking up some ingredients. "So, let's get started."

It took her a minute to recover before she joined him. The rest of the afternoon was quiet, with only Myrtle's crying and Easter's activities to keep them company.


	10. Chapter 10

December rolled in with snow and that first weekend was spent outdoors. Hermione had managed to patch up things with her friends, but she could tell that her constant absences were bothering them, especially Ron. Luckily, Quidditch practices and games had consumed much of his time as well, so she had been able to sneak away unnoticed during the day. Nights, however, were a different story. The potions turned out to be much more advanced than originally expected and such were the times in which it needed to be tended to that more than once Hermione had been forced to spend a night at Malfoy's room or the both of them had stayed in the lavatory. During the time, they had not fed Easter once and yet, a week after the first quidditch match, he had started growing again. They were both a little on edge about it, but Easter's temperament did not change and Draco suspected the pause in Easter's growth had to do with the change in weather.

During lulls, they had done some reading. A few more cats had popped up with similar physical descriptions to Easter, but none of them were specific enough mostly because they were all described as being 'so dangerous that survivors are rare'. One in particular, the bakeneko, caught their attention. It was given the highest danger classification under the Japanese Ministry of Magic, said to maul and swallow whole its victims. It contained some other unknown magical abilities, making it as much of a mystery as the others. Hermione hoped Easter was one of the less dangerous ones they had researched.

"Let's take him outside," Draco suddenly said as he lay sprawled on the floor. Hermione was tending to one of the four cauldrons they had set up. She wafted some of the smoke towards her to get a sniff.

"How do you suppose we do that?"

"I don't know. I just need to get out of this bloody bathroom."

She cut up some herbs and sprinkled them into the bubbling light blue concoction. "I can't imagine us getting very far with him, even if he stayed in the shadows, which I doubt he will."

"Well, we need to do something!" He propped himself up on his elbows to look at her. "We've been at this for a month. I need to get out of here."

"You can go. I need to get caught up on my Arithmancy homework anyway, so I'll stay here and watch the potions."

He stared at her for a minute before returning to lying on the floor. She glanced at his prone form with a small smile. In the last two weeks he had taken to coming around when it was her turn to tend the potions and she had begun doing the same with him. It was just nicer with company and, to her pleasant dismay, Draco was not too bad when he forgot he was pureblooded and she was muggleborn. Their conversations had actually moved beyond Easter and the potions to topics relating to school, though they avoided discussing her friends as much as possible so as not to incite any bad feelings.

"I need to get out of here," he said twenty minutes later. She rolled her eyes.

"How are we going to get him out?"

He sat up, eyes bright with a scheme. "Windows."

"What about the windows?"

"We sneak him out one of the ground floor windows."

She smiled and stood. "Okay."

His eyes widened. "Seriously?"

"That's the only thing that might work and I want to get out of here, too. I haven't been out in the snow yet."

Twenty minutes and a tumble from a window later found them on an unoccupied side of the castle. Hermione and Draco stood near the wall, watching with smiles as Easter looked about himself with obvious awe. Now the size of a lion, he was too large to come to Hermione's room at night, so he stayed with Draco. This arrangement forced them to let Blaise in on the situation. Blaise stopped coming around his bedroom, not much of a cat person. He did, however, treat Hermione much better during Potions.

Draco had conjured a lead to put on Easter, not wanting the creature to stray to far. It lapped up some freshly fallen snow before releasing some huffs and leaping into a snowdrift, pulling Draco with him. Hermione laughed as Easter poked his dark head out from the white mound, looking around for Draco. He huffed, pawing at an oddly shaped drift and unearthing Draco's head.

"It's not funny, Granger!" he snapped as Hermione doubled over. Easter was circling Draco, huffing and nosing snow up against Draco's face.

"I think he wants you to play with him!"

"Knock that off!"

Hermione came over, pushing Easter's head away from Draco so that she could dig him out. He dried himself off with a wave of his wand before glaring at Easter.

"That's not funny."

Tail flicking wildly, Easter took off to through snowdrifts and roll about in the cold ground coverings. Hermione picked up some snow, packing it together. Draco shook his head, backing away.

"No, Granger. You put that down!"

"No, I don't think so."

"Granger, you put that down!"

He scooped up some of his own snow but still got a face full before he had the chance to make a snowball. Growling and wiping his face, he sprinted towards her. She raced away, laughing and dodging snowballs. She tumbled down a slope and Draco released a yell of triumph. Easter came over, licking her face with his warm tongue. Smiling, she wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his dark fur. He radiated so much heat despite it being so cold, yet the snow did not melt beneath his paws. His chest thrummed pleasantly and she pressed her ear against it to hear the greatest sound, like a beating drum in the midst of a canyon. It echoed and reverberated through her.

"Malfoy, come hear this," she whispered. She turned around to see him standing a few feet away. He had that same strange look on his face that she remembered from their trip to Hogsmeade. Like he had seen something to give him pause.

She had never thought of herself as being a romantic and suspected Draco was not one to be given to romantic tendencies. But, sometimes things are set up in such a way that there was nothing to be done about it. She was slightly flushed and covered in snow, standing there next to some rare, potentially dangerous beautiful creature, and all was still around them.

Hermione could barely believe how fast Draco had crossed the space between them. She had even more trouble believing how warm his lips were as they pressed against hers, his hands clutching her arms tightly as he pulled her into him. Her heart burst in her chest and her mind completely shut down, unable to keep up with the amount of screaming it had been doing. Good thing, too, because it would hardly have been able to hold it together when her fingers curled around his scarf and her body moved closer to his. Yes, a very good thing. It certainly would never survive the thrill in her stomach at the feel of his arms surrounding her or his tongue brushing against her teeth, tentatively requesting entry.

Oh Lord, was she glad her mind had shut down.

* * *

><p>She glanced over at him as she took her dripping coat off and hung it up of a stall door. He had his back purposefully turned to her as he got out of his coat. Easter had collapsed underneath the sink, the only thing visible were his large padded feet and occasionally the independent white barb. Hermione turned back, touching her lips thoughtfully. They were a little bruised but still warm and a little tingly. Her stomach seemed to still think they were still outside as it would not settle down and her heartbeat was still a bit erratic. She closed her eyes, struggling to remember those moments but to no avail. She only recollected when he released her, because she had stumbled back into Easter in a daze. He had muttered something incomprehensible and then walked back up the hill.<p>

"Granger."

Her last name suddenly sounded so forced. She took a deep breath before facing him. He was leaning against the sink, staring down at the tap with some trepidation on his face.

"You should go to lunch."

She flinched. What the hell was that? A dismissal? Was she being dismissed?

"Malfoy-"

"Just go to lunch!" he snapped, turning to her. His expression softened at the hurt on her face and he sighed. "Granger-"

Easter's loud hiss interrupted them. His paws disappeared, as did his tail. There was low growl from the shadows underneath the sink and Draco backed towards Hermione. The growl grew faint and Hermione's eyes widened.

"He's outside!"

She started towards the doors, but Draco pulled her to a stop. "And what the hell are you planning on doing?" he snapped. "If he's in the shadows-"

A shriek cut him off. Hermione's heart leapt in her throat as Draco paled. They rushed out of the lavatory towards the sounds. Down the corridor, a first year was pressed into a corner, screaming. Hermione crouched down beside her.

"What happened?"

The girl just pointed, sobbing uncontrollably. Draco sprinted around the corner and gasped, tripping to the ground in an attempt to backtrack. Hermione rushed over, eyes wide at the bloody mess in the corridor. Easter stood in the midst of the hall, growling and hissing into the shadows. Blood dripped from his jowls and from the plethora of gashes that covered his body. He slammed the side of his body into the wall, causing a quake that dropped Hermione to her knees. Draco scrambled out of the way as Easter repeated the action, scratching up his sides in a blind rage before leaping into dark corner. Hermione helped Draco to his feet, the both of them staring where Easter had disappeared.

"We're dead," Draco muttered. "We are dead."

"Mr. Malfoy! Miss Granger!"

They turned around to see McGonagall speeding down the hall, professors and students behind her. Hermione released Draco quickly, stepping away from him when she saw Harry and Ron amongst the group. Even Nott and his friends had shown up. Madam Pomfrey knelt down beside the hysterical first year while McGonagall approached Hermione, unable to hid her horror at the bloody corridor's appearance.

"What happened here?"

"I don't know," Hermione managed out. "We just got here-"

"It was a monster!" the girl screamed. "It attacked me!"

Hermione and Draco exchanged panicked looks. Hagrid came to the front of the group, kneeling down to pick up some clumps of fur. While other professors were busy looking around, McGonagall pulled Hermione and Draco to the side.

"What did you two see?"

"Nothing!" Hermione insisted, trying her best not to hyperventilate. "I heard the girl scream and ran over. The hallway was empty."

"Mr. Malfoy-"

"I didn't see anything," Draco snapped, pale face becoming unreadable. The Headmistress gazed at Hermione before turning to Hagrid.

"What is it, Hagrid?"

The large man stood, examining the fur closely. "Never seen this type of fur before, 'Eadmistress."

"Madam Pomfrey, is she able to speak?"

Nodding, the Healer led the still crying girl up to McGonagall. "Go on, dear."

"It was a monster!" the girl cried. "It was so big and scary!"

McGonagall leaned down. "What did it look like?"

"Like a tiger. It was huge! It came after me and then went over there!"

Though all the students began to murmur amongst themselves, Hermione noticed an odd reaction in a group of students, more specifically Nott. They all got pale and started whispering frantically to each other. Nott was snapping something to all of them, glancing over at the bloody corridor. His gaze passed over her briefly, dark from some unknown irritation.

"Alright, that's enough," McGonagall snapped. "Hagrid, if you would please look about the corridor. Professor Vector and Madam Sprout will assist you. The rest of you will go directly to the Great Hall. Professor Flitswick, if you and the other professors would make sure all the students assemble in the Great Hall. Filch, you will do a sweep of the castle, starting with the towers and working your way down." When nobody moved, she pulled out her wand. "Now!"

Hermione turned to Draco. "Our things are still in there!" she whispered, glancing towards the lavatory. "If Filch goes in there…"

"I'll deal with it," he muttered before striding away. Ron and Harry appeared near her, both nervous as they moved down to the Great Hall.

"I wonder what it is," Harry mused aloud. He glanced at Hermione, frowning. "How'd you get up here so fast?"

"I was already up here when I heard the girl," she said. "Where were you?"

"Just came in from being outside."

"Did you go outside?" Ron asked, touching Hermione's wet hair. "I thought you had to do work?"

"I was doing work."

"Then-"

"Why are you asking me so many questions, Ron?"

His eyes darkened. "I just wanted to know, that's all. You wouldn't come out with us, but your hair's wetter than mine. And what was Malfoy doing up here with you?"

She slapped his hand away, glaring. "Since you're not my parent, you're not entitled to know all my business, Ronald. How you decided that you could demand information from me like I am a child is ridiculous! So, why don't you leave me alone?"


	11. Chapter 11

"Quiet, quiet!" McGonagall tapped her wand against the table to get the attention of the students. When the hall fell silent, she stood. "Now, I know you are all wondering why you have brought in and I am sure rumors have already spread as to the reasons, so let me inform you as to the points. Only thirty minutes ago, it was discovered that a creature had gotten into the castle and attacked a student. It is still unknown what sort of creature we are dealing with, but the Ministry has sent experts to assist us in the capture or expelling of the beast. Now, some of you have seen the scene on the second floor and no that this is not a situation to take lightly. The creature is most likely injured, making it more dangerous. We must be vigilant and for this purpose I am instituting new rules. As of today, curfew is set at eight p.m. Ministry officials, who will also be about the castle as a precaution, will escort all students to their classes. Students may not go anywhere alone, and third year students and lower must have at least three people with them before going anywhere within the castle. All classes in the dungeons will be moved to the third floor and all Slytherins will sleep in the Great Hall until further notice. Any student found in violation of these rules will be immediately expelled."

Any chuckling at the Slytherins' new situation was silenced at the last statement. Hermione's stomach twisted painfully and she looked to the Slytherin table. Draco had not come in, but Blaise met her gaze and he nodded curtly. She sighed. So the lavatory had been cleared out. But that did little to relieve her anxiety.

"Lunch will be served now, and then all students will return to their common rooms. The Slytherins will be allowed to go to the Library until dinner. Please keep the new restrictions in mind."

Hermione kept quiet as others around her began chattering. Ron, Harry, and Ginny were sitting down the table and people noticed the schism.

"Are you okay, Hermione?" Luna inquired, sitting across from her. She glanced at the others with evident concern. "You look dreadful."

"Do I?"

"Quite. Is something wrong?"

"Everything." Hermione buried her face in her hands. "Everything is wrong, Luna."

"I'm sure Ron and Harry could help."

"They…" In another future, yes. If Draco Malfoy was not involved, then she would have run to them immediately. "Nobody can help."

"It doesn't have to do with this monster they're talking about, does it?"

Hermione felt like unburdening herself, but she just sighed and shook her head. "No, Luna. I…I'm so sorry."

"What is it, Hermione?"

"For…for being so absent." She looked around at all the students in the Great Hall. So many people could get hurt because of her. She could still see Easter's snarling face as he hurt himself against the wall.

_What had happened?_

Hermione noticed Draco slip in past the officials and take a seat by Blaise. He glanced over towards her and she could tell he was thinking the same thing. They needed to get out of there. They had gotten lucky with Filch's search, but Hermione had caught a glimpse of the equipment the Ministry officials were using. They needed to find Easter.

"Oh, look. It's Charlie Weasley."

Hermione turned to the entrance to see Ron's older brother stride in. McGonagall met him there along with Hagrid and a couple Ministry officials, falling into quiet conference. Ron and Ginny tried to catch their brother's attention, but he only glanced over while listening carefully. His eyes moved to Hermione briefly before he nodded.

"Of course, Headmistress. I'll do as I can. Is it okay if I speak to my brother? I find it hard to believe something like this has happened and they don't know about it."

"Be my guest."

Hermione watched him sit beside his sister, greeting them all curtly. She could not hear anything, though. Luna noticed her disheartened expression and stood.

"I'll see what they're talking about."

"Thanks, Luna."

Almost ten minutes passed before Charlie stood. "Well, I better go talk to her."

"Why?" Ron said loudly and Charlie rolled his eyes.

"You know, if you're trying to keep Hermione as your girlfriend, you're doing a really crappy job of being her boyfriend." He left his brother red in the face to come sit across from Hermione. "Hi, Hermione. How are you?"

"If you've come to ask me a question, then just do it," she muttered, glancing over at Ron. Charlie smiled wanly.

"Trouble in paradise, hm? Not my problem," he added when she gave him a dark look. "I've been brought in to help out with the monster issue. I hear you were one of the first on scene. Can you tell me what you saw or heard?"

"I just heard the girl scream. That's all. When we came around the corner, nothing was there."

His eyebrow rose. "We? You mean you and Draco Malfoy?"

Her cheeks warmed. "Well, he must have heard the girl, too, because he showed up about the same time I did and we both went around the corner. All we saw was the blood and fur."

Charlie glanced over at where Ron and Harry were watching them. "It's not my place, but it seems like Ron's being a bit of a git."

She shook her head. "It's not him. I've been…It's my fault, too."

"Well, I doubt it's been anything to warrant him acting like such a big arse." He stood, turning to the Slytherin table. "Let's hope Malfoy is less of one."

Hermione watched Charlie walk away with the urge to run out of the Hall.

When people started finishing with their lunch, they paired up or got into groups to go back to their respective common rooms, or to the Library if one was Slytherin. Hermione joined a group of first years after Draco and Blaise had left, knowing she might be able to catch them in the Library. Unfortunately, Nott left at the same time, catching her unawares on the way out.

"Saw you upstairs," he said and she rolled her eyes.

"Yes, you probably did. I was there."

"Quite a mess, eh? Must have been a shock. For you and Malfoy."

She noted the edge to his voice when he mentioned Draco. "It was scary."

"Seeing all that blood? I would have thought, with you fighting in the war, that something like that wouldn't scare you."

"Some things always scare you. What do you want?"

He shrugged. "Nothing. Just talking."

"Well, I don't have time." She picked up her pace, glancing over her shoulder. His eyes were wandering over her and she shivered, hurrying to the front of the group. They passed by the Library and against her better judgment she went in. There were not too many people around, so nobody paid attention when she entered. She found Draco and Blaise arguing in the back of the Library.

"Well, if you had listened to me, then this shit would never have happened!"

"How the hell were we supposed to know it was going to-"

"I'm not talking about the bloody cat, Draco. I'm talking about you being involved. If you had controlled your stupid feelings, then we wouldn't be involved in this mess."

Draco's face flushed angrily. "There's nothing we can do about that, so why don't you stop bringing up shit we can't change."

Blaise rolled his eyes. "What can we do? You completely screwed up."

"It's not his fault," Hermione snapped, stepping into the aisle. Blaise and Draco turned to her. "We couldn't have known-"

"That it would act like the crazed, deadly creature you read about?" Blaise finished with a sneer. "Of course that came as a complete surprise!"

"Hey." Draco pushed Blaise away from Hermione. "Don't start."

"There is a bloody nightmare hiding somewhere," Blaise hissed. "I _hate_ cats. You know I hate cats. And you two idiots freaking let one loose in the castle and we can't even tell anyone because, being a lunatic myself, I let you tell me what you were up to! So now all of us are going to get expelled and then they'll put us in Azkaban."

Aside from sounding a little paranoid, Hermione knew Blaise was justified in his statements. They were all in serious trouble.

"Blaise, why don't you go make sure nobody's listening in on us," Draco suggested. "When we think of something, we'll call you."

"Whatever. I'll just go to this corner and get mauled."

Blaise continued to grumble as he walked away. Hermione rubbed her face.

"This is so bad. This is so bad!"

He leaned against the bookcase. "Blaise is being paranoid."

"But he's right! You saw him!" Her breathing was speeding up again. "You saw what he did to himself! He completely lost it!"

She held her chest, crouching down as she tried to control herself. "I can't believe this is happening to me! Nothing this year has gone right for me!"

"Thanks, Granger," he muttered, crouching down beside her. Blushing violently, she glanced up at his stoic face. How was she supposed to tell him that his kiss had shocked all recollection of its occurrence from her mind?

"This isn't the time," she ended up saying. "With Easter…and-"

"Weasley?"

Her stomach twisted terribly. "I can't do this now."

He nodded, glancing around at the books around them. "So, what do we do?"

"We need to find Easter before they do. And, with Charlie here and all these rules, it's going to be impossible."

"Well, we should just go turn ourselves in."

"I didn't say that!" She rubbed her sweaty palms against her legs. "He may not even be in the castle."

"We need to check, and fast. They've already started checking the towers."

"He'll be in the dungeons."

Draco nodded. "Yeah, so we need to get down there before they do."

She shivered. "And then what? What do we do if we find him? He's…he's huge, Malfoy. If he attacks…"

He tilted his head to catch her gaze. "One mountain at a time."

Her mind spun and then her eyes lit up. "The cloak."

"What?"

"Nothing…stay here."

"Yeah, I've got so many places to be, Granger."

She couldn't help a smile at his cynicism. "Right…I'll try to be back after dinner. Maybe sooner."

"We don't have that kind of time."

"I can't get back here without somebody with me and how do you expect me to get any of my friends to come with me if they all _hate_ me?"

His eyebrows rose. "What are you planning on doing?"

She stood, sighing. "I don't want to tell you in case it doesn't work."

"If it doesn't, I suppose you won't be showing up after dinner?" he inquired, standing as well.

"If it doesn't, you probably won't see me at dinner." She covered her face. "I'm not going to have a single friend when this is over."

He smiled wanly. "One mountain at a time."

She smiled as well, looking up at him. "I'm sorry I dragged you into this."

"I blackmailed you into this, if you remember," he said with a shrug. "Not much dragging involved."

"Yes, well…okay."

She started out, catching sight of Nott in the corner, watching her as she went. She waited until a group passed by and followed them up to Gryffindor Tower. To her dismay, Ron, Harry, Ginny, and Neville were all there in the commons but she squared her shoulders and went over. If she was going to do what she needed, there was only one way to get up into the boy's dormitories.

"Hello," she muttered. Ron stood before she could sit.

"What do you want?"

"Ron, listen-"

"No, you listen, Hermione. I'm done with you. What happened? Not getting Head Girl has completely ruined you. You're not the girl I thought you were and I can't stand you anymore. You've no idea who your friends are!"

"You are my friends!"

"You don't _lie_ to your friends, Hermione!" he roared, attracting so much attention that Hermione knew she had made a mistake. "We can't bloody trust you anymore!"

"There are things in my life-"

"What? That you can't share with your friends? We fought a bloody war against Voldemort together and _now_ you think we're not worthy of your secrets?"

She stood to face him. "Ron, please. I never meant to hurt you all. I've just been so busy with things lately and I haven't been spending enough time with you."

His face turned red. "You think this is just about missing a damn date? This is about you forgetting that other people exist." He leaned in close, eyes blazing. "Go to hell, you bloody bitch."

The commons were dead quiet as Ron stormed towards the stairs. Tears streamed down Hermione's cheeks and her lips trembled horribly as she tried to hold back any sound of horror. Ginny could see Hermione's distress and felt for her.

"Hermione, Ron didn't mean any of that-"

A choked sob escaped her lips and she shook her head. "I hate you, Ron!" she screamed suddenly, stopping Ron's progress up the stairs. "God, I _hate_ you!"

When he turned around, she went right up to him with tightly clenched fists and a dark expression underneath all the tears.

"You can't possibly know what I am going through right now and instead of just accepting that I have something I cannot share with you, you turn into the most horrible, unhelpful wretch! I _want_ to tell you! I cry at night because I can't tell you and you just say all of these hateful things like I don't feel anything! Like I betrayed you! But when Harry kept things from you, it was fine and dandy and it was okay because it was HARRY!" She released a scream of frustration before shoving him hard, tears drying up with the gravity of her rage. "If you cared about me at all, you would have trusted me like I trusted you to be there for me! You hateful little boy, I hate you!"

Somewhere deep down, she knew she had done the worst thing ever. But she didn't care anymore. Easter could kill someone and Ron was here giving her grief about it. She wanted nothing more than to have Ron and Harry help her, but if this was how they were going to treat her for trying not to get them involved, then…

She backed away from Ron's shocked, hurt face, hating that she was the one who created it. Looking around the room, she knew she had burned her last bridge. With a long exhale, she walked straight up to her bedroom.


	12. Chapter 12

She had intended on getting the cloak under better circumstances, but as things were, Hermione was running out of options. The issue would be getting into the boys' dormitories, which, after her stunt in the commons, would be near impossible. But, poking her head out, she noticed that Harry had gone to his room and had one last idea. She came down the stairs, ignoring the looks she was getting as she went straight to the boys' staircase. Harry was sitting on his bed, head in his hands when she came in.

"Harry?"

He looked up and frowned. "Hermione? What are you doing here?"

She sighed, sitting down beside him. "I'm so sorry about what happened earlier between Ron and I. We shouldn't be fighting like that and you don't deserve to be around when it happens."

"Hermione, I know what Ron said was wrong, but…you've been worrying all of us and we just want to know that you're okay. Ron's…Ron just cares about you differently. You know."

She blushed and looked away. "This year has been so hectic, Harry. So many things have happened…things I can't tell you."

"If you're involved in something wrong, you need to tell me. You always used to tell me things."

"I know. But this is different." She rubbed her face. "Things are so confusing."

"Something you can't tell me about, huh?" He observed her for a moment before shaking his head. "I understand why Ron's so mad. It's like we don't know you anymore."

"I'm still the same girl-"

"You're not, Hermione. You're different. You've changed."

She turned to him. "Harry…I'm in so much trouble."

He frowned. "Does this…Hermione, does this have to do with what happened on the second floor?"

Taking a deep breath, she stood. "This was a mistake."

"Hermione, no." He took her hand. "It's about that, isn't it? What's going on?"

She turned to him. "I can't tell you."

"No, you need to tell me what's going on!" He stood, taking her arms in his hands. "I saw the hallway. They have the Ministry here, Hermione! If you are involved, you need to let me help you!"

"I can't get anyone else involved. This is my problem, I have to fix it alone."

"Whatever it is out there, it's dangerous! Why are you resisting?"

"Because I can't let you get hurt!" She closed her eyes for a moment, sighing. "Harry, please. I need you to understand. This is more complicated than I imagined it would be."

"Then let me help."

Looking up into his eyes, she could tell he would not let this go. "I…I need your invisibility cloak."

His eyebrows rose but he nodded and went to his trunk. "You promise me you will be careful, Hermione," he muttered, handing the cloak to her. "And if things go sideways-"

"You'll be the first to know. Promise me you won't say anything to Ron or the others."

He nodded. "Promise. I would get going. Whatever it is that you're looking for, Charlie's going to find it soon."

Harry came down the stairs with Hermione, noticing the strange look Ron cast their way.

"What's going on between you and Ron, I think it's unhealthy."

"It's the wrong time," she told him. "We're both…I have a lot to deal with without him becoming a jealous mess."

"He's not being jealous, Hermione. He's worried."

"He has a funny way of showing it."

He rolled his eyes. "I never said he was justified in what he did. But, honestly? Have you ever known Ron to express his feelings in a rational way?"

She smiled and kissed his cheek. "Thank you, Harry."

"Yeah, just try not to get killed, okay?"

She went up to her room and closed the curtains around her bed before putting the cloak on. Of course, she had to wait around by the portrait hole for someone to open it. Then it was an easy path down to the Library. Blaise and Draco were still in the back, no longer arguing but she could tell that they had done so recently by the way they were glaring at each other. She tapped Draco on the shoulder and he fell out of his chair, eyes wide.

"What the hell?"

Smiling, she threw the hood off the cloak. "Hey."

Blaise scrambled to his feet. "Shit, Granger!"

Draco got to his feet, reaching out to touch the cloak. "Where the did you get this?"

"I don't think we have time for that. Are you coming, Zabini?"

"No."

Draco rolled his eyes as Hermione draped it over him as well. "Hold down the fort, then. If things change, cover for me."

"Yeah, Granger, you're on your own," Blaise snapped. She pulled the hood down and they took off towards the dungeons. She was conscious of how close they were to each other but she kept her gaze on what was ahead of them.

"Dungeons?" she murmured and he nodded.

"Yeah, before those damn officials get there."

When they were safely hidden in the darkness of the dungeons, they pulled the cloak off and pulled their wands.

"_Lumos._"

Hermione peered around. "What do we do if we find him?"

Malfoy squared his shoulders and started off. "What we need to."

"What is that supposed to mean!" She caught up to him with a worried look. "Malfoy, you can't-"

"Can't what? He's _insane_, Granger. And if he attacks, then I am not going to hold back."

"He's hurt. Of course he's going to attack."

"If he hurts someone, it's on our heads. We need to do something about it before that happens."

Hermione's stomach knotted but she nodded. They stayed close to each other as they tentatively made their way through the winding dungeons. Hermione would call out every once in a while, much to Draco's annoyance but he did not dissuade her. Either they would stumble upon Easter, which was unlikely, or it would come to them.

"Wait." Draco came to a stop. "Do you hear that?"

Hermione listened intently. A soft rattling breath filtered down the corridors towards them. As they moved closer to the noise, it got so loud that it shook the walls. Then it stopped. Everything got so quiet that Hermione could hear her own trembling breathing.

"Can you see anything?" she asked him.

"No…wait, something-"

She was knocked into the wall as something shot out of the darkness, wrapped around Draco, and dragged him down the hall. She scrambled after him, grabbing his arm. He started yelling in pain.

"My leg! God, let GO!"

"_Reducto!_"

Draco was released, but a bone-chilling screech followed after. Draco shoved Hermione forward, limping as he followed after her. They got as far as ten feet before being bowled over, wands knocked away from them. Hermione gasped at the glowing gold eyes that stared down at her. Great silvery fangs appeared.

"MALFOY!"

"_Avada Kadavra!_"

Screeching, it stumbled away as the jet of green light hit it but did not die. Draco snatched Hermione's arm and they were off again. They were knocked down again and Draco screamed as it clamped its jaws down on his already injured leg. In the dark, Hermione could not see him but she heard his cries of pain. She could hear herself crying and screaming as well as she stumbled around trying to find him. Her fingers brushed against flesh and she took hold of it, pulling hard. But she released him immediately when a familiar thin furred cord encircled her neck and began to tighten. She was lifted up off the ground, clawing futilely at the tail as her lungs began to burn.

She must have lost consciousness because the next thing she knew she was on the cold floor, coughing and gasping for air. Down the hall she could hear snarling and screeching while the walls shook with impact.

"Hermione!" came Draco's ragged voice. She felt wet hands on her face and felt her way towards him. His breathing was shallow and she could tell he was trying not to cry.

"What happened?"

"I don't know…it just let me go."

She tried to pull him to his feet, but he groaned and slumped back against the wall. "I can't…my leg is gone…just go on without me…"

Hermione shook her head. Neither of them could find their wands, the lights were gone, and the snarls were getting louder. If she left him there, he would bleed out or Easter would come back to finish the job.

"Put your arm around my shoulders."

"Hermione-"

"You are not becoming a martyr for something I did!" she gasped, pulling him up again. She slipped her arm around his waist and started dragging him down the hall. He gasped and groaned in pain, but used his working leg to help them along. The floor shook with an approaching attack and Draco shoved Hermione ahead of himself, falling to the floor.

"Just go!"

"Draco-"

"Damn it, Granger, RUN!"

She took off blindly, tears streaming down her cheeks as she stumbled through the corridors in her escape. She finally reached a lighted area and collapsed against the wall, looking back into the dark corridor. Her heart was racing and she clutched her chest as she struggled to breathe.

"Oh God…Oh God, Draco!"

"Hermione?"

She spun around just as Harry appeared at the bottom of the stairs. He rushed to her side, eyes wide at her appearance.

"Hermione, what happened? Are you okay?"

"Draco!" She pointed down the hallway. "He's going to die! Oh God, Harry, he's…this is all my fault!"

"You're hurt-"

"He's _dead_!"

Harry pulled her to her feet. "Hermione, what happened?"

A loud huff kept Hermione from answering. Harry pushed her behind him, drawing his wand at the blazing gold orbs floating in the darkness beyond. The huffing continued and the two backed up as Easter slowly materialized before them. The cat was in much the same physical condition as it had been outside the lavatory but he was no longer enraged. Hanging loosely from his mouth was an unconscious Draco Malfoy. He set Draco down, whimpering as he nuzzled Draco's ashen face. Hermione rushed forward, slamming her fists against Easter's head.

"Get AWAY!" she screamed as the creature shrunk back, still whimpering. "You monster, GO AWAY!"

When Easter began huffing, she snatched Harry's wand and pointed it at Easter. "_Avada Kadavra!_"

The green jet hit Easter in the center blue spot. He stumbled back with a harsh scream. Tail dropping to the floor, Easter snarled and then disappeared into the dark.

Hermione got to her feet quickly. "_Mobilcorpus_," she whispered, waving the wand over Draco's body. Harry took the wand away from her.

"I'll take care of this, Hermione."

She gripped Draco's hand tightly. "We have to take him to Madam Pomfrey's."

"No." At her sharp, shocked look, he shook his head. "No. You're too involved. We take him to the Room of Requirement."

"But his injuries!"

He opened her bag and pulled the cloak out. "I'll help you, Hermione. Just trust me, okay?"

She lowered her gaze to Draco, pushing his hair out of his scratched face. "Okay, but we have to hurry!"


	13. Chapter 13

When the door opened, Hermione glanced over. Harry offered a smile as he set some things down near by the wall before coming to sit by the cot.

"How is he?"

"He looks better." Hermione placed a hand on Draco's forehead. "He still has a fever."

Harry watched as Hermione resumed bandaging up Draco's arm. She was very attentive, making sure the wounds were clean and the bandages were tight. Completely opposite of how he expected her to act towards Malfoy. But he had seen how distressed Hermione had been until they had managed to stop Draco's major bleeding. Something was definitely going on between herself and the unconscious blond.

He took this time to go over what had happened down in the dungeons. The beast that had brought Draco out of the dark had been more massive than he had anticipated, like a great dark lion. Covered in blood, it had struck fear into his heart. But its actions made Harry wonder how insane the thing was.

"Hermione, I need you to tell me what's going on."

She sighed. "It…he was so small when I found him, Harry. I didn't know what he was but I just needed to have him. I tried showing him to you in Diagon Alley, but he disappeared. He doesn't show himself to people except for Dra…for Malfoy. He let Malfoy see him for some reason."

"That thing was a pet?"

"Easter didn't start growing until after Malfoy got involved! He just kept getting bigger, so I couldn't keep him in my room anymore. Malfoy and I had him in the second floor lavatory. He…we were just outside with him, Harry. We took him out to play in the snow and when we brought him inside, he just…this is all my fault."

He pulled her into a hug. "How many times have you cried this semester?" he asked after a few minutes. She laughed, covering her face as more tears came.

"More times than I can count." Removing her hands, she sighed. "Harry, I don't know what to do. Malfoy…I did this to him."

"Hermione, do you honestly think Draco Malfoy would do anything for you if you made him?"

She blushed at the look he gave her. "This isn't the time-"

"This is the perfect time. I managed to convince McGonagall that you and I were going to stay at the tower for dinner, buying us a lot of time. They won't do head counts until nine. So, why don't you tell me what's going on between you and Malfoy?"

She shook her head. "Nothing is going on."

"Seriously? Because, from what I've gathered from you, you have been ditching dates with Ron to spend time with Malfoy and the psychotic cat."

For a while, she just stared at Draco. He was breathing fairly normally now. The leg that Easter had attacked had been completely shredded, but the Room of Requirement had provided some healing potions that had managed to stop the bleeding and started bringing back some skin. His face was scratched up and, like her hand, was still red and bleeding intermittently. She could still hear him demanding that she go on without her.

"Hermione?"

"He kissed me."

Harry's eyebrows rose. "What?"

"He kissed me…today, actually. Before all of this happened. Gosh, it's been a really long day."

"If you want to go sleep-"

"No. I'm fine, Harry. I'll stay up with him." She turned to him, smiling. "Thank you so much, Harry. You helped save his life."

"Yes, well…don't mention it ever again."

She nodded. "Promise."

He stood to stretch. "What are we going to do? About…what did you call him? Easter?" At her nod, he shook his head. "What do we do about Easter? The officers are heading down to the dungeons. I'm not an idiot, Hermione. There is going to be blood down there and they are going to find it."

"Let them find him."

The bitterness in her voice made him hesitate. "Hermione-"

"Look what he did!" She pulled down her collar so that he could see the bruises forming around her neck. "Look what he did to Malfoy! He almost killed both of us."

"Hermione, if Easter is that thing you asked Hagrid about the other day, then more people could get hurt before the Ministry even catches it."

The Mngwa description flashed in her mind and everything went cold. If it was that, then odds were that nobody would catch it. Nobody would be left.

"We can't let them into the dungeons, Harry. More people will die if they go down there." She let out a frustrated yell. "My wand is down there!"

"God, Granger, your voice."

A loud, excited noise escaped her lips and Draco flinched. "Are you completely deaf to yourself?"

She rolled her eyes, taking hold of his hand. "How do you feel?"

He managed an eye open to look at her. "Well, I'm not dead…pity…"

"Don't say that!"

He looked over her tired but relieved face before sighing. "You look terrible."

"You should see yourself, Malfoy."

With a groan, Draco turned his head so that he could see Harry. "What the hell, Granger?"

"You were dying and Zabini was nowhere to be found."

"Blaise Zabini knows?" Harry shook his head. "Hermione."

"Hey, Potter. Go away."

"I could have left your bleeding arse in the dungeons."

"Then you'd have a hysterical muggleborn on your hands. Instead, you just have an anxious one. You're going to break my hand, Granger."

She relaxed her hold on him. "Sorry. And I would not get hys…" At his raised eyebrow, she blushed furiously. "You're alive, so why don't we just drop it?"

He smirked and then winced. "God, I feel awful."

"You were mauled. You're lucky to still have your leg! I expect you would feel some kind of terrible."

Harry sat back down with a frown. "Hermione said Easter attacked you. What happened after she left?"

Draco frowned as the events slowly returned to his mind's eye. "He was killing me…"

Hermione hit him hard in the side, glaring. "Stop it," she hissed. "Don't do that."

He chuckled, squeezing her hand. "Calm down, Granger. I'm still here, so obviously he didn't."

She pulled her hand away and walked to the other side of the room. Harry noticed Draco's expression and shook his head. Getting into the logic that sparked the twisted feelings between Draco and Hermione would have to wait another day.

"So…so, what happened?"

"I don't know. I passed out."

With a sigh, Harry stood. "Well, you two did a bang up job, hm?"

"Screw you, Potter. This came out of nowhere."

"You knew that thing was dangerous!"

"It never attacked us before!"

"Yes, well, I'm sure it would never do that again."

"Stop it!" Hermione yelled, turning back to the boys. "We don't have time for this. We have to figure out a way to get to Easter-"

"And what?" Draco snapped. "Kill it? You saw what happened when I tried?"

"You both tried to kill it and it didn't work?"

Hermione ignored the surprise on Draco's face. "I don't know what we can do. Maybe I should just go tell Professor McGonagall-"

"No!" the boys said simultaneously. They glanced at each other before Harry approached Hermione. "They'll expel-"

"Malfoy almost died because I refused to say anything and thought I could handle this myself. I don't want anyone else to die because of me, Harry."

Harry could see there was no way of dissuading her. Draco saw that decided expression as well, but he was not going to have any of it. He pushed himself up despite his pain, glaring at her.

"You are not going anywhere, Granger."

"You can't stop me, Malfoy."

"They're going to expel you for this!"

"At least nobody will get hurt."

"Bullshit, they'll shut the school down and you know they will! There's no way they'll catch it and plenty of people will die trying! It lives in the shadows, Granger and even when it's light out, it's a bloody nightmare! Nothing good is going to come of you telling them!"

"People are going to get hurt if I don't! I am not going to be selfish just because I don't want to get in trouble!"

"And I'm not letting you ruin your life because you're trying to be a freaking martyr!"

She screamed and threw her bag at him. "This is all of your fault! If you hadn't shown up, he wouldn't have gotten bigger and none of this would have happened!"

Harry grabbed Draco's wrist before the boy chucked anything back. "Both of you stop it! God, it's worse than when you're at it with Ron!"

"Don't compare me to that prick," Draco snarled, pulling away before looking back at Hermione. "You go tell them, then four of us get thrown out of Hogwarts. Well, not Potter, because he saved the freaking magical community. But the rest of us will be expelled and probably get shit from the Ministry."

"Somebody's paranoid," Harry muttered, going over to calm Hermione down. "Look, Hermione. I know you're scared-"

"I have to, Harry," she whispered. "I have to…I don't know how I'd live with myself if someone else got hurt."

Harry knew there was no dissuading her and sighed. "Alright. We'll go now."

Hermione turned to Draco, but he had laid down with his back turned to her. She approached the cot.

"I'll tell them you weren't involved, Malfoy-"

"Get the hell away from me, mudblood."

Her heart twisted horribly at that word coming from his lips. The same lips that, earlier that day, had kissed her.

"Hermione," Harry said softly. She wiped her cheeks and grabbed her bag. With a last look at Draco's still form, she followed Harry out of the room.

It was a slow, tense walk underneath the invisibility cloak. Harry kept his eye on Hermione, finding it hard to ignore the hard look on her face. He took her hand, squeezing it.

When they got near the Entrance Hall, they ducked into a corner and shed the cloak. But before they got close to the doors, two Ministry officials intercepted them.

"Please come with us, Miss Granger."

"I was just going-"

"Now, Miss Granger. Mr. Potter, I will have to ask you to go inside the Great Hall."

She was led away, a dark feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Where are we going?"

The Ministry official shook his head. "Headmistress McGonagall and Minister Shacklebolt will explain it all to you."


	14. Chapter 14

**Sorry for the delay. Took forever for me to get this written properly. Hope you like it!**

* * *

><p>It was quiet in McGonagall's office. The hard-backed chair Hermione sat in did nothing for her nerves, even though the room was brightly lit.<p>

The door behind her opened and McGonagall and Kingsley Shacklebolt walked in. McGonagall sat behind her desk while the Minister leaned against the wall, watching Hermione carefully. Both appeared very pale.

"Hello, Hermione," he said after a moment. "How are you?"

Her throat was throbbing horribly. "Fine, I suppose."

"Really? I've heard that it has been a tough semester for you."

"It's been a tough adjustment, Minister. But I'm alright."

McGonagall looked over Hermione. "Miss Granger, your appearance suggests that you have been in some kind of fight."

She looked between the two adults, her anxiety evident. "Headmistress, is it alright if I ask what this is about?"

McGonagall glanced up at the Minister. "Miss Granger, I am going to ask you one more time about the events this morning. Yourself and Mr. Malfoy, who we are unable to locate, both stated that you did not see what happened to Miss King. Do you stand by that statement?"

Her stomach plummeted. "Um…I don't know…I mean, I didn't…what is this about?"

Kingsley gestured to someone behind Hermione. A middle-aged woman came forward, a dark look on her face as she gazed at Hermione.

"Madam Beira, if you would tell us again what your findings were," Kingsley said.

"The monster Miss King says attacked her left its fur all over the second floor corridor. The fur has been positively matched to that of fur left at other scenes."

Hermione clenched her hands, trembling. "What scenes?"

"Crime scenes, Miss Granger, where people have been found viciously murdered."

"Oh my God."

McGonagall stood, gesturing for Kingsley and Madam Beira to leave. When the door was closed, McGonagall came around the table to sit beside the distressed girl.

"Miss Granger, I really must be frank with you.* There is very strong reason to believe you are connected to the creature roaming these halls."

The words were on the tip of her tongue. She wanted desperately to unburden herself, to just tell McGonagall what had happened. The situation was spiraling quickly out of control and someone was bound to get hurt. But as she sat there, about to open her mouth, Easter's actions came to mind. His whimpering manner and the tender way he had brought Draco to her. There had been no anger in those eyes she had grown to love. No vicious desire like she had seen in the eyes staring down at her in the dungeons. He had nuzzled Draco's bleeding face in much the same way he had nuzzled her face when trying to get her attention in the lavatory. The hurt, the growling dismay that flashed along with his great white fangs stung for some unknown reason.

"Miss Granger-"

"No."

McGonagall's eyebrows rose. "If it turns out that you are involved, then I will no longer be able to help you."

She hesitated. What was she doing?

"I don't have anything to say."

Sighing, McGonagall stood. "I have made the decision to send students home tonight. I want to have the castle scoured thoroughly and the Ministry officials…Miss Granger, I am granting you some leniency here because I know your character. Do not disappoint me."

Hermione was dismissed to go pack her things. She ignored the curious looks she received from her classmates as she rushed to her room, throwing things into her trunk while cursing herself for keeping silent. Shrinking down her trunk and then pocketing, she hurried back down to the commons. Harry was already there and pulled her aside.

"What happened?"

"I didn't say anything."

"But I thought-"

"Harry, I couldn't. I wanted to, but…something didn't feel right."

"Well, what are we going to do? Everybody's going home and Malfoy's still up in the Room of Requirement."

"I know!" Hermione glanced over at Ron. "Harry, look. I don't want-"

"You're coming with us, Hermione," he said firmly. "I don't care what Ron says. You don't have anywhere else to go."

"But Malfoy. I can't…I can't leave him here."

He nodded. "Alright, then we go get him."

"Harry-"

"Don't mention him and then expect me not to find a solution, Hermione," he muttered with a smile. "I don't understand you, but I'm not one for letting someone just suffer. Though, if it were up to me, the little ferret could…well, you know."

She smiled. "Thank you, Harry."

"Are you already packed?"

"Of course."

"Then let's go."

They had no real way of doing this quietly, so Harry moved to a dark area underneath the staircase and started yelling something absurd like, "It's IN THERE! IT'S IN THERE!" Students freaked, then the officials had a full-scale stampede on their hands. Harry and Hermione easily slipped into the hysterical crowd, riding it until they could get to the stairs. Then they hurried to the Room of Requirement. Harry stayed outside to keep watch while Hermione went in to collect Draco. He looked a little surprised to see her, but that same dark expression held firm.

"What-"

"Shut up," she snapped, coming over to the bed. "We don't have time for this. We're leaving and you're coming with me."

"Granger-"

"I didn't tell them!" She stomped her foot hard, glaring. "You stupid jerk, I didn't tell them because you're such a bloody…" With a frustrated yell, she wrapped her arms around his midsection and pulled him up. "Come on!"

He growled in discontent but allowed her to help him hobble to the door. Harry pulled a face as the two came out.

"God, I am so far from where I want to be."

"Yeah, the rest of us are exactly where we want to be, Potter!"

"Shut up, Malfoy!" Hermione shook her head. "We're never going to get him past the officials."

"Where the hell are we going?"

Harry sighed. "They're closing Hogwarts for the rest of the year and sending everyone home."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Bloody great."

"Will your mother-"

"My mother's still in France, Granger."

Hermione glanced up at Harry and he groaned. "Hermione-"

"We don't have time to argue," she muttered, moving forward. "We have to get him downstairs before the officials realize what we've done."

Harry sighed and helped move an uncooperative Draco down to the ground floor. Fortunately, Harry's ruse had worked too well and the whole Entrance Hall was full of panicked students. Harry threw a coat over Draco's head before they entered the crowd, setting the injured boy against the wall. Blaise appeared beside Hermione, peering under the coat.

"Well, you look like shit."

Draco said something crude in reply, earning a laugh from Blaise as he stood up straight.

"So, I see your plans went well."

"This isn't the time." Hermione looked about the frenzied crowd. "He's hurt."

"Obviously. Well, I don't know what you plan on doing. Draco here can't go home and he certainly cannot come with me. I've no place to stay either."

Harry could see the look on Hermione's face and shook his head. "Hermione, no! There is no way!"

"Harry, he's my responsibility!"

"He's a _Malfoy_! There is no way we convince Ron-"

"We don't have to convince Ron of anything! We just-"

"Have to convince a house full of Weasleys to let me stay?" Draco pulled the coat up to give her a look of disgust. "I would rather cut my leg off."

"That can quickly be arranged," she hissed. "And, since you don't have any choice in where you're going, shut up!"

Blaise chuckled. "Your girlfriend's on her monthly, isn't she?"

Harry pulled Hermione back when she went for Blaise. "You're lucky I don't have my damn wand," she growled. When Harry finally released her, she turned to him with a sigh. "Harry-"

"How the hell are we supposed to even get Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to agree to let them stay?"

"One mountain at a time, Harry."

Draco snorted derisively, but the conversation ended as professors finally settled the students down. McGonagall appeared at the doors, glaring.

"The student who started this mass hysteria will be severely punished," she said, though Hermione could tell she was just glad all the students were accounted for. "Your parents have already been contacted and will be awaiting your return at King's Station. Now, in an _orderly_ fashion, please get into the carriages outside that will take you down to the Hogsmeade Station."

Blaise rolled his eyes and gestured the two Gryffindors away. "While you two argue over what to do with us poor Slytherins, I'll make sure the invalid here gets on the damn train."

Hermione nodded. "Thank you, Blaise."

His lip curled. "Granger, don't take that first name basis crap with me. I'll be forced to do the same and I shan't."

Harry led Hermione down to the carriages, looking for an unoccupied one without any luck. They had to settle on the one Ron, Ginny, Luna, and Neville had gotten into. Hermione kept her gaze averted, hoping the carriages would leave soon.

"What happened to you, Hermione?" Luna inquired, leaning over to get a better look. "Your throat's all red."

Ron's eyes moved to her quickly as she touched her own neck. "Oh, um…I just hurt myself falling down the stairs."

"Stairs did that?" Ginny shook her head. "Hermione-"

"I really can't talk about it." She glanced at Ron. "It's-"

"Complicated?" he muttered. She felt Harry's gaze on her and turned to the window.

"Yes."

Harry leaned over, pulling Hermione towards him. "We have to tell them," he whispered.

"Not now. Let's wait until we're on the train."

The platform was full of students trying to get on the Express when their carriage arrived. Hermione and Harry noticed a scuffle taking place between Blaise and Cruller. They rushed over in time to see Blaise get knocked into the side of the carriage, much to the House of Slytherin's amusement.

"You were never much of a dueler, Zabini," Cruller yelled. "I'm going to kick your arse!"

Hermione snatched Harry's wand and dug it into the back of Cruller's neck. "Not before I do you one," she hissed. Cruller turned with a sneer.

"Taking up for these wretches, Mudblood?" he growled. "You see this, Nott?"

"I see, Nathan."

Nott stepped forward with a nasty glint in his eye. "Be very careful about what happens next, Granger."

"How about you jump in front of that damn train, Nott," Draco snapped from the carriage. "That would be about as careful as one needs to be with you." Hermione shoved Cruller away while Harry moved in to take back his wand.

"I'll consider it," he said. "I never liked you much, Nott."

"I've always hated you, Potter. Get out of the way. This is none of your business."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I really wish it wasn't."

Hermione had hurried over to the carriage to stop Blaise from coming back. "Help me get him on the train," she said. "You can go fight with Cruller later!"

Blaise growled but threw open the door. "I will kill you when this is over."

Nott shook his head, laughing darkly as Hermione and Blaise dragged Draco out. "So, there must be a God! Only he would orchestrate such a twisted comedy of errors!"

Harry raised his wand when Nott took a step towards them. "I wouldn't, Nott. I've had a really long day and you're about to get the bad end of it."

"How the mighty Malfoy has fallen!" Nott continued to mock to the sound of laughter. "How long has the mudblood been lugging your lame arse around?"

Hermione kept a good grip on Draco, ignoring the shocked looks of the students around her. Harry followed closely behind as they got on the train. Blaise found an empty compartment and, after closing the door and pulling the curtains, he shook his head.

"That went well."

Draco groaned as Hermione helped him onto the seat, putting his legs up. "You shouldn't have gotten involved, Granger."

"It's too late for that. Besides, you were being irrational."

"No, you were. I was going to put a broom up his arse. That's not irrational."

Harry rubbed his face as the two went at it. "I thought I had escaped this," he muttered, sitting down heavily. Blaise sat as well, watching the couple argue.

"Well, Potter. At least they're both intelligible. I've heard the fights between Granger and Weasley. Half the time, Granger's the only one who makes sense."

"I heard that." Hermione glared at him. "We're not fighting!"

"_Really_?" Blaise held up his hands in mock-apology. "Well, forgive me, Granger. I must have confused your whispers of love for angry conflict. How stupid of me."

Blushing furiously, Hermione sat up next to Draco. "Well, we certainly didn't handle that well."

"What are you planning on doing now, Granger?" Draco muttered. "We don't have a lot of time-"

"You're going to come with us."

Harry groaned this time. "Yeah, because that's going to be so easy now."

"Harry, they don't have anywhere else to go and Draco's hurt because of me!"

"God, you are in love with making yourself guilty, aren't you?" he snapped, looking up at her. "For the last time, I went down there of my own volition. Nobody _made_ me go down there." He shook his head. "Like you were going down there by yourself."

She bit her lip, touching his forehead. Blaise kicked the seat, forcing both of them to look at him.

"Hey, cut that romantic crap out," he snapped. "If you two have forgotten, we're kind of screwed. So let's focus on that rather than how guilty you both feel about each other."

Draco winced at the pain that shot up through his leg. "You heard her, Blaise. We're staying with them."

"And they're staying with the Weasleys, aren't they? I would rather sit in a vat of acid for the winter."

"You have no place else to stay so you'll hold your tongue!" Hermione repeated. "You-"

The door was yanked open and Ron, Ginny, Luna, and Neville stumbled in. Ron's gaze fell on Hermione and Draco, and his eyes widened.

"Bloody hell."


	15. Chapter 15

**Sorry this is late, too! Hope it being uncommonly long will make up for that! Again, thanks to all my reviewers!**

* * *

><p>Draco's lip pulled to create a sneer, gray eyes incredibly hostile as he watched Molly Weasley inspect his leg.<p>

"Watch your wand, woman," he snarled when she poked a tender spot. "If I wanted to get mauled again, I would have stayed in Hogwarts."

"You watch your tone, young man," Arthur ordered. "You are a guest in our home, but you had better mind your manners."

"I would rather be a guest in a morgue."

"That can be arranged," muttered one of the many Weasleys that were crowded into the living room. Hermione glared at the redheads before fixing a pointed look on Draco.

"Be civil, Draco."

"Draco?" The room was in uproar for the third time that day and Arthur had to threaten forcing everyone out. Draco smirked at the dark looks he received but said nothing else. Molly finished looking at it and stood.

"Well, I'll order some potions from St. Mungo's. You're lucky it hasn't fallen off, Malfoy. It should heal up before school starts up again."

"I am so grateful," Draco muttered and Blaise snorted derisively. Molly's eyes narrowed and she went to the door.

"Everyone out, save you two," she added with a look at the Slytherins. Hermione touched Draco's arm before following the others out to the kitchen. When the doors were closed, Molly and Arthur turned to her and Harry.

"Now, I want an explanation for this, Hermione," Molly demanded. "And it had better be a good one."

Hermione folded her arms over her chest. "Any other explanation but the truth would be a terrible one and I can't tell you that. Not yet."

"Hermione!" Ginny shook her head. "What is wrong with you?"

"It's sitting in the other room, Ginny," Ron growled. Harry rolled his eyes.

"Oh, shut up, Ron," he muttered. "You've no idea what's going on, so stop making stupid comments like that."

"Oh, so you've taken her side, eh?"

"Because I know what her side is!"

"That's enough!" Arthur slammed his hand down on the counter. "That is quite enough!" He looked around the room before sighing. "Hermione, Harry, as you have brought these two…guests into our home, you will be responsible for them. They will stay in Ron's room-"

"What?"

"They will stay in Ron's room," Arthur continued while his son fumed silently under his mother's stern gaze. "And Harry will stay there as well. Hermione, you'll share a room with Ginny and Luna."

"As if Ginny would want to," George grumbled.

"Go to hell," Hermione shot back, fed up with the reception she had received. Arthur shoved open the door.

"Everybody out." Arthur stopped Hermione before she got to the door. "I need to talk to you."

She sat down at the table, watching him as he closed the door and then sat across from her.

"Hermione, are you feeling well?"

"No."

Her curtness drew a frown. "Can you tell me what-"

"No…Mr. Weasley, I'm sorry. I don't mean to be so hard. It's just-"

"The creature. Yes, I know. Word's spread around the office about it and your name got brought up."

"Can I ask why everyone thinks I have something to do with this?"

"Because, unfortunately, Minerva…Headmistress McGonagall believes you lied to her about what you saw. And then there's Mr. Malfoy's appearance. That's not very helpful to your case."

She sighed. "Mr. Weasley, right now…I can't tell you anything."

He observed her for a moment before shaking his head. "If that's your stance, then I can't sway you. But I wish you weren't involved in this, and especially with that Malfoy boy. It's not looking very good, and if it turns out its what everyone thinks it is, then the problem could be worse."

"What are they planning on doing?"

Arthur stood. "I can't say. Hermione, if you would? Try and keep your guests from starting an all out war in my home. I understand they have nowhere to go and…that you have some kind of relationship with them. But I do not want my holiday ruined by two intolerable Slytherins."

She nodded and returned to the sitting room. Blaise and Draco were alone, to her surprise. She suspected Molly had herded everyone outside.

"I'm surprised you're still in one piece," Blaise said as he looked around for a place to sit down. He settled on standing by the fire while Hermione pulled a seat up to the couch Draco was lying in.

"I think they're more mad at Harry," she muttered. "So, everyone thinks we have something to do with Easter."

"We do."

"Yeah, but they shouldn't know that!"

Draco rolled his eyes. "Well, I would rather take my chances with the bipolar cat than your redheaded friends, Granger."

"Amen," Blaise said. "I've never seen a place so vile."

"You know, Zabini, I will be very happy to do the family a favor and curse you myself."

"Take up for them while they plot to kill me," Draco growled. "That's classy."

She grabbed him by the collar, pulling him close. "You listen to me, Draco, because I am only going to say this once. I...I _care_ about you. But if you make one more snark about the Weasleys or the Burrow, I will relieve you of your pain by simply taking the offending leg off!"

She released him with a huff and started pacing the room. "I can't believe you're being a prick."

"Yes, Draco being a prick is so surprising?" Blaise said before starting to laugh. "Look at his face, Granger!"

She turned and blushed at the shock on his face. "Fix your face, Draco. I didn't say anything that surprising."

He closed his mouth and sunk down into the couch. "Are you going to tell me why you didn't tell them?" he said after a while. She sat back down, sighing.

"Something didn't feel right. And before you get that smug look on your face, I'm not talking about telling the truth. I mean about Easter. You were unconscious, so you didn't see how he looked when he brought you out of the dungeons. You didn't see how hurt he was. It was so different from what I saw in the dark. It just felt wrong."

Blaise grinned. "Granger, we all know you didn't say anything because, let's face it. For you, the only thing worse than being expelled would be to separate you from your little love toy here."

Her blush put a smile on Draco's face. "Well, do you know how long we're going to be out of school?"

"Longer than it took for you to change the subject."

"Blaise, stop talking."

"I can't. I literally can't. Look at this damn place, Draco! I swear, I will contract something just breathing."

"Hopefully it will mellow you out," Hermione said before turning to Draco. "I don't know. I think we go back the same time."

"What, do they plan on waiting it out?"

"They haven't told me anything, Draco. They think I'm involved!"

Draco could see Hermione floating between enjoying his attention and wanting to hex him. He was glad when the door opened and Harry stormed in, most of the male Weasleys behind him.

"Harry, will you listen to us?"

"I will not." He glared at Draco. "This is your bloody fault."

Hermione stood, gesturing Blaise over. "Help me get him up to the room."

"He's not staying in my room!" Ron asserted.

"That's perfectly fine with me," Draco said as Hermione helped him stand. "I can stay in whatever room Granger's in."

"Me, too," Blaise said, casting an interested look over Ginny. Harry flushed and pulled his wand out.

"Get Malfoy up to the _fifth_ floor."

* * *

><p>A storm blew in the day before Christmas Eve, bringing in so much snow that anyone staying at the Burrow was locked in. The atmosphere had been tense already even with the ability to escape outside. With everyone shut up inside the house, things quickly turned worse than the weather outside.<p>

Hermione had taken to sitting with Draco in Ron's room since Draco rarely left the room to avoid the influx of friends and family that poured in for the holidays. Blaise stayed until the couple got awkwardly quiet and then went out into the yard, where redheads constantly harassed him. He then returned to the room to find the couple in much the same condition. Harry managed to keep the Weasleys away from the two Slytherins, actions that increasingly got him on their bad side.

When the snow had started piling high against the door, Hermione went up to the attic room after ensuring Ron was gone. She climbed over Draco's sleeping form to look out the window. It was late morning and a sleeping draft had put him out for a while, so he was just waking when she settled down on the other side of his cot near the window. She leaned her face leaning against the cold glass pane to watch the snow bear down on grounds outside. She could still make out the outlines of trees and some rocks.

"Granger, what are you doing?"

She smiled, turning to him. He turned on his side, eyes barely open as took in her appearance. A faint smile passed over his lips.

"I think I had a daydream like this."

"You're an idiot."

"You're not dressed."

She looked down at herself. She was wearing the same t-shirt and shorts he had given her the first night she had stayed with him.

"Dressed enough to be seen by you, which is all I really care about."

He chuckled dryly. "I'll take that in the spirit it was given." His eyes moved to the window. "It's been snowing all night?"

"Uh-huh. It's gotten really high, too. I think it must be above the door now."

"Great. Now we're really stuck here. You know, Weasley snores like a damn train!"

She grinned. "I know."

"You know?"

At his curious look, her cheeks warmed but she shrugged. "We've shared a tent."

"For what reason?"

"That's really none of your business. And I can't see how it matters anymore."

He reached over to touch her leg. "Yeah, probably."

Her stomach flip-flopped at his touch and she pushed his hand away. "Cut that out," she muttered. "Ron could-"

"What, walk in and see you with me?" Draco rolled his eyes. "Like he doesn't know already."

"Flaunting isn't my style."

He shrugged, turning onto his back. "Whatever you want. I'm very patient."

Smiling, she leaned close to him. "I have a confession."

"What is it?"

"I don't remember you kissing me."

He sat up, frowning. "What?"

"I don't remember it."

His affronted look amused her thoroughly. "You're taking that the wrong way. I was shocked. I shut down, so I don't remember any of it."

His eyes narrowed. "You're lying."

"Why would I lie about that?"

"Nobody forgets Draco Malfoy."

She laughed. "Yeah, well I did."

"I can't believe this."

"Do you really think that much of your kiss?" She shrugged. "It must not have been that good."

"Bullshit, Granger. That's a damned lie and you know it."

"Well, maybe next time you shouldn't run up and kiss someone when they're not expecting it."

His eyes narrowed and he leaned up. "You need advanced notice?"

"That would be nice." Hermione scooted closer when his lips captured hers. A tremble moved through her body and her heart raced at his touch. It was a gentle, caressing motion that warmed her all the way through. His hand took hers, squeezing it. She wanted to laugh, she felt so wonderful in this little moment.

"Has anyone told you that you taste like peppermint?"

She did laugh, pulling away so she could look at him. "You taste like you should still be asleep."

He smiled and kissed the corner of her mouth. "Does this feel weird to you?"

"No…yes…Easter's not here."

Draco sighed, lying back down. "I hate that bloody cat."

"It feels weird, doesn't it?" She ran a finger over the back of his hand, frowning. "It all feels wrong, Draco. Easter…we raised him. For him to just turn on us…"

"You saw what he did."

"Which is why it doesn't make any sense! You read the same things I did about the different creatures Easter could be. None of them ever mentioned such radical mental states! One second he's calm and caring. The next, he's trying to kill us?"

"What are you thinking?"

"I don't know!" She shook her head. "Why didn't he kill you? He had you, Draco…I could hear you. I could hear you and he could have killed you. According to everything we've read, you should be dead." Taking a deep breath, she met his troubled gaze. "Instead you're here because he suddenly decided to spare you?"

Draco sat up, glaring. "You're doing this to get out of the other thing, aren't you?"

She leaned in, kissing him softly. "I'm doing this because of this other thing."

The door opened, followed by a very enraged yell. Hermione and Draco pulled away to see an infuriated Ron standing there, Harry behind him. Draco's lip curled while Hermione just blushed.

"Weasley, privacy means nothing to you, does it?"

"I'll kill him!"

Harry grabbed Ron, yanking him back while Hermione got up off the cot. "Stop it, Ronald," she ordered. "You cut this out right now!"

"I told you he was thick."

"Draco, say one more thing," she hissed, giving him a look to kill. "Ron-"

"So this is what you've been doing behind my back!"

"I haven't been doing _anything_ behind your back! You forfeited the right to know any of my business when you called me a bitch."

"You know what, you're absolutely right. What was I thinking, calling you a bitch? If I had known you were going behind my back with the ferret, I would have called you a whore!"

"Wow, Weasley," Draco said and Hermione could not see any sarcasm. "I don't think it's possible for me to loathe you more than I do now."

"Stay out of this, Malfoy! I can't believe you, Hermione."

"Don't look at me like that, Ron. Despite what you think, I never went behind your back. I had things I couldn't tell you-"

"But you could tell Malfoy?"

"At least I could trust him not to turn on me!" she hissed. "I couldn't tell you things because I didn't want any of you to get hurt! I would have told you eventually but you hateful boy, you didn't trust me one bit! You couldn't trust me when I begged you to trust me and this is what happened!" She suddenly felt very drained and with a sigh, she returned to the cot. "Just leave me alone, Ron. If you can't trust me, then I don't know what else we have to say to each other."

Ron's face turned beat red and his gaze turned to Draco. The platinum blond ignored him, tilting his face to get a better look at Hermione. With a frustrated growl, he stormed out. Harry watched him go, feeling a little torn. Hermione pressed her forehead against the windowpane, breathing onto the glass.

"Go ahead, Harry. I'm fine."

Harry nodded and closed the door as he left. Draco leaned his head against the window, observing Hermione carefully.

"Go on and say what you want about Ron before I change my mind," she told him. He shrugged with a wan smile.

"I really can't imagine a worse way to get into Weasley's position than to talk about it."

Hermione leaned up and kissed him quickly. "I hope your leg feels better," she muttered before leaving. She made her way slowly down the stairs, finger running over her tingling lips. She would remember those moments.

As she came down the stairs, she could hear yelling so she stopped and crouched in the stairwell.

"Why are you taking up for her?"

"Ron, you need to stop-"

"I need to stop? She's up there snogging Draco Bloody Malfoy and you're telling me to stop?"

"She's _what_?"

"Yeah, Bill. Hermione's up there with Malfoy!"

"But I thought you and her…Harry, you knew?"

"I didn't…this isn't something I was aware of."

"You knew she was doing Malfoy?"

"She's not doing anyone, George. God, what the hell is wrong with you all?"

Hermione hurried to her room and closed the door. Ginny and Luna looked up in surprise, obviously having been listening themselves. The three girls had not talked at all since they got to the Burrow. Ginny had spent time with her sisters-in-law, Angela and Fleur, while Luna had been in her room or outside with the others. Ginny seemed more hurt by Hermione's new alliances than Luna and now that all three girls were alone together, she voiced this.

"You're with Malfoy?"

"I'm not…" Hermione sat down across from them. "It's complicated. Things have happened that I can't really explain but…Draco and I-"

"Draco?" Ginny shook her head. "I can't believe you, Hermione."

"This isn't something I did on purpose. It just kind of happened. And your brother wasn't doing anything to help!"

"Are you saying my brother drove you into Malfoy?"

"No! Nobody drove me anywhere. Things came between us and we couldn't trust each other anymore. We couldn't communicate anymore. I could…can talk to Draco. He understands."

"Understands what? That you completely dropped your friends to be with him? I'm sure that's the only thing you two have in common."

"I never dropped you! I never meant to hurt you all." Hermione put her face in her hands. "None of this was supposed to happen."

Ginny and Luna glanced at each other and then Luna moved over to sit beside Hermione. "Does it have to do with why they closed down Hogwarts?"

Hermione looked up at both girls with a sigh. "I can't-"

"Hermione, they shut Hogwarts down. You're here with Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini, and Ron's downstairs turning the rest of the family against you." Ginny's eyebrow rose. "I don't think right now is the time to be holding on to your secrets. They're what got you into this mess in the first place."

Hermione shook her head. "It's not that simple."

"Then what can you tell us?" Luna asked. "I want to believe you're not involved in what they all think you are. That this all has a reasonable explanation."

"It has an explanation, just not a reasonable one."

"And you can't tell us."

"There are still parts that I don't understand. I can tell you that this thing with Draco…Ginny, I swear that nothing happened until that last day of school and even then, it was all on his part. I never went behind your brother's back. I wouldn't do that to him."

"But you were with Malfoy, weren't you? Why?"

"He found out what I was hiding. Look, I can't tell you anything else. I don't want anyone to get in trouble. Hopefully, when we can go back to Hogwarts and all the bad things will be behind us."

Ginny frowned. "But you do like Malfoy, don't you?"

Hermione's cheeks warmed. "I can't tell you how to feel about him because I know how he's treated everyone. But…he helped me deal with my problem before it became a problem. And he saved my life. Those things count for something."


	16. Chapter 16

On Christmas Day, the Burrow was in quite the mood. Molly and Fleur were in the kitchen making dinner while Angela and George were decorating the sitting room. The storm had dissipated to a light snowfall so the rest of the house had dug their way out and were engaging in a snowball fight in the orchard. Well, everyone save Hermione, Draco, and Blaise. Hermione and Draco were in the yard while Blaise was nowhere to be found.

The snow was so high that anything in the yard was completely blanketed, with only the taller trees and fence tops still visible. Hermione was perched on the stone wall by a tree heavily laden with snow, watching as Draco walked out into the yard.

"Where the hell are you, Granger?" he muttered. She smiled, taking hold of the limb as he crossed underneath the branches. The next thing she heard was muffled curses as she shook kilos of snow down on top of him. His arms were the only thing visible and were flailing about in an attempt to dig himself out. The sight was so absurd that Hermione fell off the wall laughing.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming." She started digging him out. He spluttered and coughed, rolling onto the snow with a flushed face. He finally sat up and glared at her as she continued to giggle.

"This is the second time!" she gasped, falling back into the snow. "You are just too easy, Draco!"

He threw snow onto her face. "You're a right little witch, aren't you?"

"Quite." She started making a snow angel, mouth wide open to catch flakes. "It's good to be out of the house."

He readjusted his hat, looking over into the orchard where people were yelling. "At least Weasley's somewhere else."

"Has he been awful?"

"I almost killed him last night."

"I heard he almost killed you."

"Somebody was going to die," he muttered. "But talking about the stupidity of your ex is lowering my intelligence."

He tackled her, pushing snow into her hair. She squealed, scrambling away while chucking snow back at him. He tackled her again, rolling her onto her back before holding her arms down.

"You are just uncooperative!" he said and she smiled as he leaned in, kissing her cold nose.

"I didn't think you were much of a romantic."

He shrugged dropping down onto his back beside her. "I'm not. I just like your nose."

She turned her head to him, smiling when he opened his mouth to collect snow. "Can I ask you something?"

"Why not?"

"You said that your mother was still in France. Why is she still there?"

He brushed some snow off his face before looking at her. "My mother was never very attached to Lucius. Snape was always her favorite. Father found out and he came for her. So I took her to France. When word reached us that Snape was dead, she decided to remain in France while I returned to school."

"How long will she stay there?"

"Well, if my reception at Hogwarts is any indication, she will be there a while. But, since we are on the subject, where are your parents?"

She sighed. "The war. Things were so dangerous and they didn't understand. I didn't have a lot of time to explain before they left."

"Have you talked to them since?"

"I got a letter three months ago explaining how I would not be receiving anymore letters."

She propped herself up on her elbows, taking in the white landscape. That soft patter of snow plus the distant laughter of a snowball fight were the only breaks in the gray quietness around them. It was one of those great scenes, quite like the one they had shared in the castle. She sighed.

"Do you know what would make this perfect?"

He sat up. "Easter."

She nodded. "It was perfect, wasn't it?"

"You don't remember half of it."

Laughing, she tossed snow at him. "I shouldn't have said anything to you about that. Well, from what I do remember, it was perfect."

When they fell quiet, she leaned her head on his shoulder, linking her arm in his. "If they catch him-"

"They won't." He glanced down at her. "Granger, if we say nothing, then they can't do anything."

"You don't want me to tell the truth?"

"I don't want you getting expelled for something that's not your fault."

"We knew he might be dangerous."

"You said it yourself that it didn't make sense," he snapped. "We both thought he was fine. We didn't think he would do something like that."

"And if he hurts someone like he hurt you? You are willing to risk someone else getting hurt so that we don't get expelled!"

"What is telling them going to change? They'd be no closer to knowing what he is then we were and even if they knew, it won't change anything. They'll be exactly where they've been. And, for the record, I never said _we_. I said you."

A little flush from his words and the cold, she got to her feet. "That's sweet, but I would rather be expelled than have a life on my head."

He actually smiled while standing. "I'm glad to know how my death would be honored."

She pushed him lightly, a wistful smile on her face. "Don't think so highly of yourself. I wouldn't have been so devastated."

"Of course you would, Granger. If I had died, then you'd live the rest of your life wondering what that moment behind the castle had really been like."

"You egotistical…" She chucked snow at him. "Egotistical prat!"

He tackled her again, leaning in and kissing her softly. "I'll take prat any day out of these lips."

She grinned and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Don't turn romantic on me."

"Why?" He rubbed some snow into her face. "I think romantic's perfect."

* * *

><p>"What did you two do, bathe outside?" Blaise inquired as Hermione and Draco came inside. Draco just smirked while Hermione started shedding her wet outer clothes.<p>

"Someone was being uncooperative."

"Someone thought snow down the shirt was a sign of affection," she snapped, her shirt sticking to her. At Draco's curious gaze, she blushed violently and snatched up her coat. "Don't even think about it."

"I wasn't."

With a dark but amused look, she hurried up to her room. She found Luna reading in bed.

"You didn't go out?"

Luna shook her head, glancing over her magazine at Hermione's wet appearance. "I see you did."

"I was just out in the yard…Malfoy's a jerk."

"I've heard as much."

Hermione was just changing into some dry clothes when something about the room suddenly seemed out of place. She turned around, looking at Luna closely.

"Luna, what have you been doing?"

"Reading."

Hermione tilted her head to the side. "Um…what happened to your neck?"

Luna bit her lip, holding the magazine further up to block Hermione's view. Hermione's eyes widened.

"Luna!"

"Shh!" She scrambled up to close the door. "Hermione-"

"I can't believe you!"

"Oh, now don't you dare-"

"No, no!" Hermione pulled Luna back down onto the bed. "You're misunderstanding me! How long?"

Luna blushed and shrugged. "Nobody notices if I slip off to the Library or the lake to read or draw. I think he was looking for Ginny, but he…it was very strange at first, him being around. But he…he was very passionate."

Hermione's eyebrows rose and Luna shook her head furiously. "Not like that. I just mean, he goes after what he wants. I suppose I was what he wanted."

"Luna, he didn't force you-"

"Oh, no. He never made me do anything silly, Hermione. He likes to talk and I like to listen. Today, however, he got very...well, as you can tell, he doesn't like the snow."

Hermione had to hide a smile as Luna ruefully rubbed the bruise on her neck. "I do wish he would not be so enthusiastic. I think the Weasleys would be more than a little upset to find all their guests taken by Slytherins."

* * *

><p>"DINNER!"<p>

Hermione and Luna came down to the sitting room. Draco sidled over as Weasleys started traipsing in.

"You don't expect us to stay here, do you?"

"I don't know if either of us will be allowed at the table."

Draco's eyes passed over her. She was in a lilac turtleneck now and dark jeans. "How disappointing."

She frowned. "I think I look nice."

"That's what's disappointing."

Ron came in just as Draco had pulled Hermione closer to him. His lip curled.

"Spare us, Malfoy. Nobody here wants to see you and her together."

Hermione rolled her eyes, taking Draco's hand. "Come on, Draco. Blaise. We'll go eat up in your room. We'll be able to see more of outside from up there."

"Hermione, please," Molly said, looking around at the crowded kitchen and sitting room. "This is Christmas and I will not have it ruined over whatever reservations you have for each other, no matter how deep they run. I have made dinner and you all will eat it. Civilly."

"I'm not sharing food with Malfoy and Zabini for anything," George growled.

"We wouldn't want to deprive you of the little you have," said Draco while moving towards the stairs.

The fireplace flared and Charlie appeared. He dusted himself off as he stepped into the room.

"Hello, mum. Sorry I've been gone, but I just came from Hogwarts."

Everyone looked to Hermione and Draco briefly before crowding in around Charlie. "What have you heard, Charlie?" Bill inquired. "Do you know what it was?"

Charlie glanced at Hermione before shaking his head. "They had a few ideas, but nothing concrete. But it's irrelevant now. Whatever it is, it is no longer in the castle."

Hermione felt Draco stiffen. "It's gone?" she whispered. "Are you sure?"

"Castle's been scoured three times. It's gone. We found a hole scratched into the bottom wall on the west side of the castle. We're confident it has left, but as a precaution the Ministry will be posting officials on the grounds."

"That means we're going back to Hogwarts!" Ron whooped. Everyone turned to Hermione. She pursed her lips, feeling tears coming for unknown reasons.

"So the castle's clear?"

Charlie's eyes got dark. "Hermione, I spoke with Headmistress McGonagall. Your refusal to tell the truth in the matter could come back to hurt you. The Ministry is seeking full action in whoever released the creature into the castle in first place. You're on the top of their list."

Hermione huffed and stormed up the stairs. Draco followed her up to the attic room, closing the door behind them. She curled up on his cot, glaring outside when he sat beside her.

"Hermione-"

"I should be happy. I should be relieved that he's gone. That he's at least away from Hogwarts. But…well, you know what I'm thinking."

"They're still looking to put the blame on someone."

"Well, I'm sure they'll have no trouble pinning it on me."

"You're incredibly pessimistic."

She threw up her hands. "I don't know how I feel! I want to be mad or relieved or something! I can't figure it out, Draco."

Draco looked outside. It was still snowing and the ground reflected the barely visible moon's light so that there was a sort of glow. "Granger, let's just be glad it's not in the castle anymore. It's Christmas. Even I know you're supposed to enjoy yourself on Christmas."

She smiled as he leaned in. "You want to enjoy yourself a little too much," she muttered, putting a hand on his chest to stop him. "I think you've had enough."

"That's cold."

"I thought you were a patient person?"

He rolled his eyes, lying back in the bed. "Patient," he grumbled. "Patience is me slowly shoving a broom up Weasley's arse."

"Draco."

"Oh, lighten up, Granger. I'll say what I want about-"

"Draco, shut up and look!"

Frowning, he sat up and looked out the window. His eyes widened. "Holy shit."

The Weasleys and their guests were about to start eating when Hermione and Draco came barreling down the stairs. They flew through the kitchen, flinging open the door and letting flurries of snow in. Any uproar was ignored as the two stumbled through the snow, not dressed to be outside but neither caring as they went out into the orchard.

"Do you see anything?" she called, rubbing her arms furiously. "Draco?"

"Over here!"

She pushed through the snow to his side and muffled her gasp with her hands. Draco cautiously approached the collapsed body, watching for any signs of life. There were none. The mouth hung open, tongue blue as it lolled out onto the cold ground.

"He's dead."

Hermione hurried to the creature's side, horrified at the blood that caked the torn body. "Oh Easter," she whispered, reaching over to touch the chest. A sharp intake of breath caught Draco's attention. "Draco, come here. Put your hand here!"

Draco placed his hand beside Hermione's. It was faint but they could both feel it. Hermione got up, snatching up the tail. Draco knocked it out of her hands.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"We have to get him inside!"

"There are people in there, Hermione!"

"I don't care! Look at him, Draco! Look at him! He'll die-"

"He almost killed me!"

"He saved your life!"

He shook his head. "Are you even listening to yourself?"

She stamped her foot down, unable to control her tears. "You help me, Draco Malfoy! I can't explain it to you, but something…you have to trust me!"

"Damn it, Granger! You bloody witch!"

He picked up the tail and together they dragged the massive weight across the snow towards the yellow light of the kitchen door and the anxious faces of their unsuspecting housemates.


	17. Chapter 17

**UPDATE: I will not be able to update at my usual time. I do have a chapter prepared, but I am so out of it right now that I want to wait until later tomorrow to review it so that you are all getting what you deserve! Thanks to reviewers! Your words encourage me and I want to put out my best for you! Sorry for the delays.**

* * *

><p>The kitchen was once again brimming with everyone's yells. Hermione was clutching Draco's hand, staring out into the sitting room where Easter's body lay. Charlie and Arthur were in there as well, but she could not see them.<p>

"Hermione, are you even listening to us?"

"No, Ron. I really can't listen to you."

Molly slammed her hand on the table and everything got quiet. She turned her gaze to Hermione.

"I do not get upset at trivial things, Hermione. My attitude is usually justified and right now I am gravely disappointed in you. How could you lie to us?"

"I never lied," she muttered.

"You told everyone you didn't see that thing attack Henrietta King," Charlie said as he and his father came in. "Not only did you lie, but it looks like you're the one who brought it into the castle."

Hermione's cheeks flushed but she kept her mouth shut. Arthur shook his head, sighing.

"I am sorry that you are mixed up in this, but…I am going to have to take you to the Ministry with that thing."

"Why?" Hermione stood with wide eyes. "Nothing's happened to anyone!"

"That thing _attacked_ Henrietta King, Hermione," Charlie snapped. He gestured to Draco. "And everyone here knows it attacked Malfoy. How else did he end up with all of those injuries?"

"Besides, we have to take that creature in," Arthur added. "I can't keep it here in the Burrow. Come on, Hermione. We are going to have to ask you some questions."

Hermione started to stand, but Draco forced her back into her seat, standing instead.

"That _creature_ belongs to me."

"Draco!"

"Shut up, Hermione," he snapped, moving around the table to stand before Arthur Weasley. "She didn't have anything to do with it."

"Nobody here believes that!" said Ron.

"Well, seeing as you can't prove anything beyond what I tell you, I suggest you shut your mouth, Weasley."

Arthur glanced at Hermione's anxious face before nodding. "Alright. Come on. Charlie, you'll take that thing with you first."

Blaise caught Hermione's arm before she could dart forward. "Don't, Granger."

"He's going to get in trouble for something he didn't do!" she whispered and Blaise rolled his eyes.

"You are going to get both of you in trouble of you tell them otherwise."

She pushed him away, going to the door to watch Charlie disappear with Easter in the fireplace. "Draco, if you get expelled-"

"Oh, for once in your life!" He glared at her. "You keep your mouth shut, Hermione."

A few seconds later, Draco and Arthur were gone. Hermione kicked the wall in a fury.

"Stupid boy!"

"Hermione."

She turned to the kitchen, wiping her face furiously. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "For all of this." Molly moved forward, taking Hermione's arms.

"Hermione, please. How did this all happen?"

Hermione could see the worry on the woman's face. The woman that genuinely cared about what was happening in her life. But Blaise's words and her own unending feeling that something was amiss kept her lips pressed shut. She shook her head, backing away from them for the stairs. With one last apology, she hurried up to her room.

* * *

><p>She could feel Harry's eyes on her and exhaled in frustration. "Harry, you're making me nervous."<p>

"You haven't slept in days."

"I will sleep when you tell me what you know."

"You know they haven't told me anything."

"Then I have nothing to sleep for."

Harry rolled his eyes and turned to Blaise. "Will you talk to her?"

"I have nothing to say, Potter. I was brought into this against my will, unlike you who jumped in it feet first because Granger here asked you to."

"You're involved because Malfoy asked you."

"Oh my God, Harry! That makes us completely relatable! We should totally talk about it over butterbeer."

Blaise's curled lip of disgust told Harry they were never to talk over butterbeer about anything. Harry rolled his eyes. "You're quite the character, aren't you? Your friend is off God knows where and you are here not giving a shit."

"You forget, Potter, that I was involved in this long before you. Do not mistake my sarcasm for apathy. If my friend is off in wonderland, then my place is here, making sure his love toy here doesn't do something worthy of a trip down the rabbit hole."

Hermione almost smiled as she continued looking out the window. "Thank you, Blaise."

"What did we say about first names, Granger," he muttered, pulling out a book.

They fell quiet and Hermione felt her nerves return. They were all returning to Hogwarts and there was still no word on what had happened to Draco Malfoy. Arthur had returned midnight Christmas Day, refusing to speak about what had happened. Charlie had been more talkative, telling the family that Easter had been put under observation while officials figured out what exactly he was. Draco was never mentioned, at least not to anyone who would say anything to Hermione.

Two officials from the Department for the Regulations and Control of Magical Creatures arrived at the Burrow the next day to inspect the orchard. They attempted to question Hermione, but Blaise was surprisingly persistent in making them understand that in no uncertain terms were they to speak to her. After they left, Hermione asked Arthur about Draco's status, but he refused, saying the case was being tightly managed. He did let slip, however, that he was unsure if Draco would be returning to the Burrow for the rest of the holiday.

A knock at the door turned her around. Luna came in, sitting down across from Blaise.

"How are you feeling, Hermione?"

"Like I haven't seen or heard of Draco in days."

Luna exchanged looks with Blaise before gesturing out the window. "We're coming into Hogsmeade. Perhaps Headmistress knows something."

When they got into Hogsmeade, Hermione felt eyes on her as she got off the train. Somehow, word had leaked to the Daily Prophet of Draco being brought in along with the creature. Henrietta King had been interviewed, something that offered little to distance Hermione from the debacle. All of this added onto Hermione's behavior at the last day offered only more room for the student body to speculate.

"Hey, Granger!"

Hermione turned to see Celeste stroll up. "What do you want?"

"Did that perky personality of yours leave with your boyfriend?"

"Don't be so pleasant, Gibbons," Blaise growled. "It doesn't go with your sour reputation."

"Nobody asked you," Celeste snapped before returning her sickly sweet smile to Hermione. "So it's true, hm? You spread them for Malfoy?"

Hermione's cheeks flushed. "You're sick."

"At least I don't endanger the lives of students." Celeste leaned in, eyes narrowed. "You and Malfoy deserve each other. Both of you are traitors to your school. No wonder you didn't become Head Girl. Oh, and by the way," she added quietly so that no one else could hear. "Henrietta is my cousin, you bitch. Don't think I'm going to let this go. My father has pull in the Ministry. Your boyfriend is never coming back to Hogwarts if I can help it."

Hermione curled her hands into a fist, glaring at Celeste's smirking face. "I wouldn't threaten me if I were you."

"Oh, what are you going to do? Sick your beast on me? Or get that cat to come after me?" Celeste laughed at Hermione's clear rage and walked away. Blaise sidled up to Hermione, eyebrow raised.

"Are you going to do something stupid?"

"I'm about to throw her down a rabbit hole," Hermione growled. "Is that stupid?"

"I'll find Alice and we'll make a party of it."

Hermione cast him a glare worthy of Draco and stalked off. Blaise rolled his eyes.

"Malfoy, I will kill you if I don't kill her first."

Up in the castle, Hermione and Blaise sat down in the Library to get away from the stares. Harry, Luna, and Ginny joined them later to find Hermione huffing and groaning while Blaise ignored her. When Luna appeared, Blaise leapt up.

"I have ten other places I need to be, none of them here and without you," he said quickly, grabbing her arm and dragging her out. Harry and Ginny watched them go while Hermione continued to mope.

"What…Hermione, did you see-"

"I can't take this!" She looked at Ginny. "If you know anything-"

"I don't, Hermione." Ginny pursed her lips as she took in Hermione's appearance. "I think it's good that this has happened."

"Really?" Hermione's face got dark. "You think Draco being detained somewhere is good?"

"I think you distancing yourself as far away from him and that creature is the best thing for you!"

"This is not Draco's fault!"

"But he didn't help, did he?"

"I am not doing this with you, Ginny."

"You need to listen! People here…they're talking, Hermione. They are all starting to think that maybe you sent…never mind."

Hermione caught Ginny's arm before the girl could leave. "They think what?"

Ginny sighed. "They're saying you may have set the creature on Henrietta."

"Is Celeste telling people that?"

"It doesn't matter who's saying it! People believe it and if you keep holding up for him you are going to get into trouble."

Hermione released Ginny with an unsettled look. "Ginny, if you ever tell me to distance myself who may have gotten himself expelled because of me, then…" She could not finish. The thought of threatening a friendship over words made her feel horrible. "I'm sorry," she whispered before hurrying out. But there were students everywhere and she soon found herself out by the lake, pacing back and forth on the shore as she struggled to get control of her raging emotions.

"Draco, you idiot!" she gasped, crouching by the water line. "This is unbearable!"

"How curious."

She stood as Nott, Cruller, and two other boys came walking up, having followed her from the castle. "What do you want, Nott?"

His unflinching gaze made her skin crawl and how close he came up to her did nothing for her either. She instantly wished she had her wand. "Where's Malfoy?"

"Everyone's got their own idea about that. I think they're running a pot about it."

"Cute, Granger," he said. He was still approaching her so that she had to start backing away. "You know, there's a poetic irony in you trying to bump off Gibbons' cousin only to have your weapon of choice turn around and went after Malfoy."

"Well, since that's not what happened, I see no irony."

"I'm sure it's there somewhere. How disappointing that it didn't finish."

Her back hit a tree and his arms blocked all escape. "Malfoy being gone can either be beneficial or detrimental to your health, Granger," he whispered, fingers brushing her hair away so that he could see her pale neck. Her lip curled in disgust and she met his gaze.

"I would rather die."

"That can be arranged." His fingers curled around her neck, tightening quickly. "You remember this, Mudblood," he growled into her ear before kissing her cheek. "You had your chance. I can spare you from what's about to come, or I will _ruin_ you."

She spat in his face. She was on the ground a moment later, clutching her smarting cheek where he had caught her with a backhand.

"You filthy mudblood _bitch_!" he snarled as he and his friends walked away. "You are dead, do you hear me?"


	18. Chapter 18

**So very sorry about the delay! **

* * *

><p>By dinner, Hermione was on the end of her tether. People accusing her of endangering lives, belittling her for her affiliation with Draco, and generally making school miserable, had constantly interrupted her first week of classes. Blaise had fielded disrupting students when he was around, but mostly she had been on her own with Harry, who was dividing his time between her and Ron.<p>

She pushed her empty plate away with a sigh. "This is impossible."

Blaise shrugged, cutting his ham pensively. "I hardly see that. I thought today went well."

"Have you noticed how radioactive we are?"

"Radioactive?"

She gestured around them. There were several spaces between them and the other students at their table. He chewed his ham slowly, aggravating her to the point that she chucked a biscuit at him.

"That's mature," he muttered, setting down his silverware to fix her with a dark look. "Getting upset is not going to help anyone, especially Draco."

"What do you want me to do, Blaise? They keep saying all of these things-"

"And the great Hermione Granger cares what people say?" He chuckled darkly. "The girl who wore her muggle heritage like a badge of honor when it could get her killed is suddenly letting a few dirty words get her riled up? Draco would be so disappointed."

She scowled at him but found no reply. She noticed him glance over at the Ravenclaw table and smiled.

"You're cute."

"Do not start, Granger."

"I'm just saying. You were all over Draco about me and you're-"

"What, Granger?" His eyes narrowed. "What exactly am I doing?"

She shrugged. "Absolutely nothing."

His face returned to its former barely pleasant self and he picked up his silverware. "That's what I thought. Besides, talking about my own preferences hardly solves your abundance of issues."

Harry came over, sitting down beside her. "I heard you and Celeste got into it."

"That little tart-"

"Granger, what did we just talk about?" Blaise muttered. "Lord, you have issues with listening."

"Hermione, you can't be getting into rows with Celeste every time she says something unbecoming."

"She called me a whore."

"Then you tell one of us and we'll handle her."

"I can handle myself!"

"Your wand still hasn't come yet. She could seriously hurt you."

Hermione shook her head. "I'm so sick of this! Celeste is being a royal bint, Nott's being a prat, and Draco…he is still gone and nobody will tell me where he is!"

Blaise stood abruptly. "I do not have time for you anymore. Your self-pity is deplorable, Granger. If you are going to wallow in your misery, then fine. This is one trip to hell I will not be signing on to. Potter, as much as I hate to give advice, I suggest you do the same."

She watched him walk away with some trepidation. "Have I really been that insufferable, Harry?"

"You're in a bad place. It's understandable."

"Me being in a bad place is what got me into this mess in the first place." She sighed. "I'm so sorry, Harry. For all of this. You shouldn't be involved-"

"I think I said the same thing to you last year," he said with a smile. "Don't worry. This will blow over and people will lose interest. Then everything will go back to normal."

"I hope so, Harry. I am so sick of losing my appetite."

He hugged her tightly. "It will be okay. I promise."

An owl swooped in, landing in front of the Headmistress. She took the proffered letter and read its contents with an ever-deepening frown. Gesturing for Professor Slughorn to follow, she left the Great Hall in a hurry. Students started murmuring amongst themselves, craning their necks to look into the Entrance Hall. McGonagall and Slughorn were in a severe conversation, McGonagall having shown Slughorn the letter. Slughorn seemed to be suggesting something to which McGonagall agreed, but she gestured to the letter and then into the Great Hall with a dark look. Their conversation was cut short by Hagrid coming in from outside. He gestured to something outside and the three went out. Immediately every student rushed to the windows, peering out to see what was going on. A carriage sat at the base of the stairs and two Ministry officials stood outside it. McGonagall had the same worried look on her face as she spoke with them. One of them shrugged and opened the door of the carriage.

"No bloody way!"

"I can't believe it!"

"They can't have!"

Hermione had remained seated with Harry, but at the uproar from those at the windows, she hurried over to an empty windowpane. She gasped and rushed out.

"Draco!"

He smiled as she came running down the stairs. Slughorn intercepted her, however, and herded her back into the Entrance Hall.

"Now, now, Miss Granger. I would not get in the middle of that."

"But he's come back, hasn't he? Headmistress will let him back in, right?"

Slughorn shrugged. "I can't say. The Ministry would like our esteemed Headmistress to expel Mr. Malfoy."

"Expel him?"

Harry came out into the hall, frowning. "What's going on, Hermione?"

"I don't know. Professor thinks they're trying to convince the Headmistress to expel Draco."

They waited by the door with Professor Slughorn, watching as McGonagall argued with the two officials. Draco leaned against the carriage, looking increasingly agitated with the way the conversation was going. After a few minutes, he said something that got him dark looks from all the adults. McGonagall gestured up the stairs and the officials nodded. One of them took hold of Draco, leading him up to the Entrance Hall.

"Draco, are you alright?" Hermione asked as soon as he came in.

"Miss Granger, please return to the Great Hall," McGonagall said. "Professor Slughorn, please make sure Miss Granger and Mr. Potter remain in the Great Hall."

"But-"

"It's alright, Hermione," Draco called over his shoulder. "These pricks can't hold me much longer."

She frowned as Slughorn herded her and Harry back into the Great Hall. "Professor-"

"We really must let the Headmistress deal with this," he said. He noticed the eyes of the student body on them and sighed. "Really, this is not appropriate. Please return to your dinners!"

* * *

><p>Blaise appeared around the corner to find Hermione pacing in front of the empty Potions classroom. Harry pushed away from the wall.<p>

"Have you heard anything?"

"No. Slughorn is surprisingly useless in terms of information."

Hermione shook her head. "They wouldn't bring him here if they planned on expelling him."

"Granger, there is a process to being expelled from Hogwarts," Blaise pointed out. "You do, in fact, have to meet with the Headmaster or Headmistress for a formal expulsion. I thought you would have read _Hogwarts, A History_."

The hard glare she gave him made him smile. "That's what I was looking for. You see, moping doesn't become you."

"Have you been pining for me, Granger?"

She almost knocked Blaise over in her haste to get to Draco, who laughed at Blaise's annoyed look. He embraced her for a couple minutes before holding her out at arm's length.

"You look like hell," he said and she touched his face. It was sallow and sunken, and by the way he was standing she could tell he was a little underweight.

"So do you. What did they do to you?"

He shrugged dismissively. "That Harker bloke liked to talk a lot. Bit of a prat, if you ask me. And nobody in the Ministry seems to know what the words 'I do not recall' mean when strung together."

"Draco!"

He kissed her, grinning. "You taste like you haven't been eating."

She hit him hard. "You idiot, you've been missing for weeks and you want to talk about me?"

His eyebrow rose. "They didn't tell you where I was?" When she shook her head, his face darkened considerably and he looked up at Blaise and Harry. "What the hell is she talking about?"

"Weasleys kept their mouths shut on that," Blaise said. "Then they didn't know, either."

"Potter-"

"They didn't tell us anything, Malfoy. Mr. Weasley said that they stopped telling him anything."

"They weren't telling him anything from the beginning!" Draco shook his head angrily. "That bastard Harker, if I get my hands on him…They had me in the Ministry building the whole damn time. They were supposed to tell you where I was!"

"What did they do to you, Draco?"

"Nothing serious," he muttered, rubbing his face. "They just questioned me."

"The entire time?"

At her disbelieving look, he smiled. "If you think I am going to tell you everything that happened to me-"

"Draco!"

"Granger, there are some things that I just will not tell you. This is one of them."

Blaise rolled his eyes. "Who cares what they did to you. Are you expelled?"

Draco frowned at this. "I'm on probation. McGonagall pulled that out of her hat after they wouldn't let the expulsion thing go."

Hermione sighed in relief and hugged him again. "I'm just glad you're back."

"Yeah, now we can let this whole thing go," Blaise muttered. "Your girl here went completely mental since you've been gone. Maybe she'll mellow out."

Draco smirked at Hermione's blush. "Nice to know I was missed so much."

Huffing, she shoved him away. "I see you're back to your old self."

Harry approached. "What about Easter?"

All eyes were on Draco, who shook his head. "I don't know. Every time I asked, they shoved me into a cell. So I stopped asking."

Hermione took his hand, pulling him away from the others. She led him to a quiet corridor before throwing her arms around his neck, kissing him passionately. He grinned, moving his hands to her hips as they backed into the wall.

"If I had known this was all it took to get you hot, I would have disappeared earlier," he murmured into her lips. She broke away, glaring.

"Why do you have to ruin everything?"

He dipped his head, kissing her neck. "I have been detained in a Ministry cell for weeks. I don't have time for…What happened to your neck?"

She reached up and gasped, pulling away. "Nothing."

"Hermione-"

"It was just Nott-NO!" She grabbed him before he could get too far. "Draco, you are on _probation_! You go start something with Nott and they will definitely expel you!"

"I plan on finishing him."

"Draco, please." She pulled him to a stop. "It doesn't matter because he's leaving me alone."

"Look what he did to your throat!"

She smiled, wrapping her arms around his waist. "I missed you," she whispered, burying her face in his chest. "Can we just…stay here for a while?"

"Why, so you can keep me from giving Nott a well deserved kick up the arse?"

"I don't feel so discombobulated when you're here."

He tilted her chin up so that he could look at her. "Discombobulated?"

Her lips brushed his. "Even when you're being a jerk, you make sense. Right now, nothing much is making sense to me. I need you to make sense."

* * *

><p>Hermione's warm welcome was the only welcome Draco's return to Hogwarts saw. His presence was met with intense ridicule by the student body and outright opposition in the form of hundreds of owls descending upon the staff table the next morning. Officer Harker and his partner returned as well with the same proposition to McGonagall, but the Headmistress held her ground. She sent letters back to parents as well as gave a brief statement assuring everyone that there was no more danger and that Draco Malfoy had never been formally charged with anything, so there was nothing to suspect him of. Not that anyone listened to that last part. As to Easter's whereabouts, it was anyone's guess. <em>The Daily Prophet<em> had some comments from Ministry officials, all of them saying that the creature was no longer an issue. _The Quibbler_ made insinuations of a cover-up, not that many people listened. But it was quite clear to everyone that the beast was no longer an issue, not like Draco.

Because of the angry feedback, McGonagall moved Draco to an empty classroom on the fourth floor, allowing Blaise to join him. The situation afforded the boys the privacy they needed to meet with Hermione, Harry, and Luna uninterrupted. Hermione and Luna were there mostly on weekends while Harry came during the week only if Hermione was present. And things started going back to normal for Hermione.

One night after dinner found Hermione and Luna doing homework in the makeshift room. Blaise and Draco had finished their work and were busy arguing over something the girls found inconsequential. Luna put the finishing touches on her essay and then got up onto Blaise's bed, pulling out the new edition of the Quibbler.

"Blaise, look. My father's printed a photo of the Snorkack."

Hermione rolled her eyes while Blaise sat down beside Luna, taking the magazine. "Lovegood, this is a gazelle."

"No, Father is fairly certain it's a Snorkack. He plans on making an expedition sometime soon and I would like to join him."

Blaise turned the magazine upside-down. "It's a gazelle."

She shrugged and took the magazine back. "There is little in here of you, Malfoy. I think Father has gotten tired of the letters he receives about you. Oh, look. Blaise, this is what I told you about yesterday."

He frowned at the page. "Lovegood, I am telling you. It is a gazelle."

Hermione smiled as Draco sat beside her. "They're…strangely adorable," she whispered.

"Don't let him hear that," he said. "They think nobody can see them."

"Luna does."

"And Blaise is surprisingly blind when it comes to her."

"We're not deaf," Blaise snapped.

The two boys were arguing again and Hermione was about to put up her homework in resignation when an all-too-familiar scream ripped through their nice little world. Blaise had his wand out immediately, as did Hermione. Draco had not been allowed to get a new wand, but that did not stop him from going to the door with Blaise.

"Lovegood, Granger, stay here," Blaise ordered before he and Draco left. Another scream was all the girls needed to rush after them. The boys had already disappeared from sight, so the girls started off down the corridor, listening intently.

"Maybe it was from the floor above or below," Luna said quietly. "It may not have come from this level."

"It could just be Peeves, too," Hermione suggested without much conviction. "He has been trying to scare the first years."

"Yes, I am quite sure it is nothing."

"Me, too."

They came around the corner and froze, both gripped with such terror that neither could move. With its back turned to them crouched a great black shadow, visible only by the shiny scars that ran along its body and the long thin tail that snapped back and forth, cracking the air more rapidly than one could keep up with. The girls' fortune was not good, as it turned to face them as soon as they stopped. Hermione's heart skipped several beats.

From the beast's mouth hung Celeste by her side, only recognizable by her frozen face of terror. The rest of her was a mutilated mess of torn limbs, disemboweled abdomen, and slashed arteries squirting still warm blood about the corridor like sprinklers.

Easter dropped the half-eaten body, eyes glowing bright as he leaned back on his haunches. Hermione broke from her paralysis and grabbed Luna's arm before breaking into a sprint. The boys slid into view and the girls dropped to the ground just as Blaise whipped out his wand.

"_Avada Kadavra!_"

Hermione and Luna rolled over to see the giant feline tumble as the green jet of light struck it in the face. Draco darted forward, grabbing both girls by the back of their robes.

"Get your arses up!"

They moved just in time to avoid being lacerated by the wicked claws that lashed out. It hissed, half its face singed and smoking horribly. The tail cracked twice above its head before shooting out towards them. Blaise cursed it again, driving it back into the shadows. With a last snarl, it disappeared.

Hermione and Luna got to their feet, eyes glued on the now very quiet corridor. Blaise moved forward, checking out the area while Draco made sure the girls were unharmed. Luna swayed a little before doubling over, becoming very sick all over the floor. Hermione stumbled to the wall, retching and sobbing all at once. Draco could hear footsteps and knew they were about to have a lot of company.

"We have to move," he said to Blaise. "We cannot be here."

Blaise nodded and Draco could tell the boy was about to vomit. He was on the verge as well. Actually…

Blaise's lip curled in disgust as Draco emptied his stomach. "Get yourself together," he snarled before collecting Luna and taking off down the corridor. Hermione stumbled over to Draco and together they hurried after the other two. She glanced over her shoulder at the terrible remains.

"Oh God, Draco."

"Come on, Hermione."

"Draco, she's dead."

"We don't have time!"

"Oh my God, she's dead!"


	19. Chapter 19

**This is for missing yesterday!**

* * *

><p>Hermione's panic attack did not seem to be ending anytime soon, not that anyone blamed her. The four students were bunkered down on the sixth floor after having heard the horrified screams of discovery. It was only assumed that the Ministry was contacted and they would be discovered very soon. And Hermione was still having a panic attack.<p>

Luna rubbed Hermione's back while the girl was doubled over, clutching her chest and groaning something incomprehensible. Draco and Blaise paced, watching their respective girls while trying to figure out what to do.

"You're going to Azkaban," Blaise said.

"Thank you, Blaise. And while we're waiting for my imprisonment, can we think of something more helpful to suggest!"

"I told you I didn't like cats and this is exactly why! How the hell did this happen?"

"Blaise, please lower your voice," Luna said softly. "Hermione, please. We have to get up."

"They're going to catch us and then put us all away!"

"Has anyone ever told you how silly you sound when you get paranoid," Draco snapped. "This is _bullshit_!"

Hermione straightened up, shaking her head. "Draco, what are we going to do? He's in the castle."

"We'll figure this out."

"How?" Blaise yelled. "Not only did it survive the shitstorm of injuries, but it got out of whatever dark hole the Ministry had it in and now it probably wants to kill us all! What is there to figure out?"

"You are not helping!"

"Did you see what it did to Gibbons? Because I'm getting the feeling you didn't get a good look at what happened. It ripped her to shreds! What the hell gives you the impression I am trying to be helpful when there's a bloodthirsty beast in the castle?"

Luna tried to take Blaise's hand, but he pulled away, too upset to be calmed down. "It was all well and good when it was just running around trying to kill itself and Draco, but it's bloody killed someone! And we are all going to go down for it!"

"We wouldn't let that happen," Hermione whispered, meeting Draco's gaze. "We won't let you or Luna take any blame for this."

"Hermione-"

"No." She stood and shook her head at Luna's worried expression. "No, Luna. Blaise is right. I let this go too far. If I had let everyone know about Easter from the very beginning, then none of this would have happened."

"Hermione, don't start this-"

"No, Draco! Don't you dare open your mouth about _any_ of this! You have already…damn it, don't you dare put yourself on the block for me. Not again. This is my fault, okay? She's…she's dead because of me and _none_ of you are going to get in trouble for my mistake, especially not you, Draco."

He grabbed her shoulders, eyes blazing as he glared at her. "They are going to put you in Azkaban, Hermione. They will take you away-"

"I am not going to let someone else die because you're afraid we won't see each other again," she whispered and he released a yell, punching the wall.

"This isn't a trip to the Ministry and an expulsion! This is a trip to Azkaban and a Dementor's Kiss!"

"If you had let me go with Easter at Christmas, then it wouldn't have gotten this far and Celeste Gibbons wouldn't be dead."

"This is not my fault!"

"You're right, it's mine and I let you protect me. I can't do that anymore. I have to protect you. All of you."

Draco looked as if he didn't know whether to cry or strangle her. Unable to figure it out, he punched the wall once again. Luna stood, looking very unnatural with her ashen, terrified features.

"Blaise, we should go," she said with a trembling voice. "We will try to buy you enough time to collect yourself."

Hermione nodded, moving away when Luna reached out for her. "No, it's okay, Luna. Please, just go."

Blaise exchanged looks with Hermione before leaving with Luna. Hermione turned back to Draco, who had sunk into a chair and was now glaring at the wall. She sat beside him, raising her hand to touch his face. He shoved her hand away, turning his stormy gaze on her.

"Granger-"

"I can't." She took a deep, shuddering breath, looking down at her hands. "I can't hide anymore, Draco. I don't…you have to promise me you'll stay out of this."

"They already know I'm-"

"Shut up!" She grabbed his face so that their gazes were locked. "You shut up and listen to me! I am taking all the responsibility for this and you will go along with it. I was a coward letting you fight my battle for me. I'm not letting them destroy your life because I was the one who ran away. I couldn't really care about you if I let you take the blame for me."

Releasing him, she stood shakily and started for the door. She had her hand on the doorknob when his words stopped her.

"You stupid martyr."

She closed her eyes. "Draco, please…I know you care about me, so stay here."

"If you expect me to just sit here-"

"I expect you to act like the old Draco Malfoy."

"How?"

Taking a deep breath, she turned around to meet his gaze. "Call me a stupid, self-sacrificing mudblood and then put as much distance between us as possible."

He went to her side, taking her face in his hands. "You're a stupid, self-sacrificing mudblood," he whispered before kissing her deeply. She broke into tears and, tearing herself away, rushed out of the room. Halfway down the hall, she hit the floor. At first, she had thought she had tripped but when she rose to her hands and knees, her own soft sob destroyed that idea.

"Draco," she whispered as long silver fangs lowered so that she was level with the eyes. The gold burned straight through her and all the air left her.

"Easter…"

He huffed, blowing air into her face before sitting down heavily with a look of mixed distrust and curiosity that only a creature could pull off. She shook her head, reaching up tentatively to touch the unmarred face before letting her eyes fall to his chest. It hummed when she placed her hand on the burned center blue spot.

"Oh my God…"

"I hear something this way!"

Hermione whipped around to see several Ministry officers come around the corner. She felt a rush of air and Easter was gone before the approaching officials saw him. Someone grabbed her, but it all went unregistered. Easter's calm dark unmarked face was all she could think about.

"Miss Granger?"

She started out of her reverie to find herself in the Headmistress' office. McGonagall was standing in front of her, along with the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement Frank Snipely and two officers. McGonagall was pale and angry, two things Hermione did not want to see on her Headmistress.

"Miss Granger, will you please answer the question?"

She flushed. "What was it?"

"Murder, Miss Granger!" Snipely shook his head. "Smartest witch my ass. Miss Granger, where is Draco Malfoy?"

"Why are you looking for him?"

"Well, it might be the mutilated corpse of the daughter of the Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, or perhaps the disappearance of the very same creature that attacked said Head's niece that has me looking for Malfoy."

Hermione shook her head. "I don't know where he is."

"Don't lie to me, Miss Granger." He crouched down so that their eyes were level, glaring at her fiercely. "I do not have time for misplaced loyalties. Tell us where he is or you will be drawn into this whole debacle."

Her eyes narrowed. "I know my rights, sir. And I happen to know that Draco has nothing to do with this."

"Obstructing an investigation is a crime."

"But not remembering information isn't."

"Insolent girl!" Snipely turned to McGonagall. "Madam, I am not playing games. This kind of behavior is not acceptable!"

"Miss Granger-"

"Headmistress, I don't know where he is!"

"We conducted roll call of the student body," Snipely growled. "Yourself, Mr. Malfoy, and two other students were not amongst the rest, prompting me to believe that you have more to do with this than the previous investigation insinuated."

Hermione just turned her head away, glaring at the floor. Cursing, Snipely motioned to his officers.

"Search the whole school."

"Malfoy has nothing to do with this!" she yelled over her shoulder.

"I will hear that for myself when I find him."

Snipely and his officers walked out, leaving Hermione to McGonagall's anger.

"Miss Granger, this is no longer a matter of having a dangerously unauthorized creature on school grounds. A student is dead and you are in serious trouble!"

Hermione shook her head. "This isn't Draco's problem. He took the blame for me last time, but this isn't his fault."

"You must tell me what is going on right now. Hermione, Celeste Gibbons is _dead_!"

The panicked edge to McGonagall's voice frightened Hermione. First names were not a regular thing for the hard Headmistress and when she spoke, Hermione knew things had gone horribly wrong.

"You, Mr. Malfoy, Miss Lovegood, and Mr. Zabini were all missing from roll call, and when found, Miss Lovegood and Mr. Zabini refused to speak. I am running out of ways to protect you and Mr. Snipely is gaining all of the excuses he needs to haul you all off to the Ministry! In the face of your obstinacy, Mr. Malfoy's absence, and your friends' refusal to cooperate, I am inclined to let him."

Hermione wanted to plead for her friends' case, beg McGonagall not to involve them. But Easter's face loomed in her mind and she knew she had nothing to say. None of them were involved.

Easter was innocent.


	20. Chapter 20

"This is simply an inquiry, not an interrogation. Headmistress McGonagall is here as an advocate. Please state your name for the record."

"Hermione Granger."

"Miss Granger, what is your relationship with Mr. Malfoy?"

She rolled her eyes. "That's irrelevant."

"Do not be a smartass. Answer the question."

There was a moment of hesitation before she sighed. "Draco and I are…we like each other."

"You're sexually involved?"

"Mr. Snipely!" McGonagall admonished.

Hermione's cheeks burned. "No! We're just in a relationship. It's very simple."

"Right. How long have you been involved?"

"A little while. How is this relevant?"

"I am wondering as to Mr. Malfoy's motives."

"Motives?" Hermione shook her head. "Draco has nothing to do with this! None of us do!"

"Really? Why did he claim responsibility for the creature last year?"

Mr. Snipely had a shrewd disposition that Hermione detested. "I'm sorry, I don't recall that. We never talked about the time he disappeared into Ministry custody for weeks without formal charges."

His eyes narrowed and he leaned down so that they were at eye level. "Miss Granger, do not consider me to be a fool. I have done my homework on you and I know you are a smart witch, despite not getting Head Girl. That must have stirred you the wrong way, not getting that prestigious school position."

Hermione's fingers went cold. "I don't understand where this is going-"

"You don't? I would have thought a bright witch like you would pick up on things fairly quickly. I have been told that you and Celeste Gibbons did not get on well."

"She didn't get on well with anyone."

"Especially you, though. You had words at the station. I understand that you threatened her."

"I did no such thing!"

"Did Draco know about your issues with Celeste?"

"Draco has nothing to do with what happened to her!"

"How do you know that? Did you?"

She trembled but kept her mouth firmly shut. He smiled and straightened up.

"Miss Granger, I really must reiterate how much trouble you are in. At the moment, I will not be making any arrests, but I will be making inquests about the castle while my men go over the crime scene. If, during the course of my investigation, I find evidence of your connection, then I will be making an arrest and there will be no room for grace."

He turned to McGonagall. "Madam, the Head of the Beast Division in the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures will be arriving soon. This is the second time an unauthorized creature has infiltrated Hogwarts grounds and I am sure he will have questions for Miss Granger and her friends. Please make sure they are available or I will have no trouble going straight to the Minister, your relationship with him be damned."

"Mr. Snipely, let me remind you that it was the responsibility of the Ministry to keep said unauthorized creature from returning to Hogwarts in the first place!"

"Do not turn this on us! Take care of who you accuse, Madam Headmistress. This is one time when protecting your students will get this school into more legal trouble than you want. Right now, you have every reason to worry. Your supposed smartest witch is behaving suspect and despite having the resources to trace probationary students, our principal suspect goes unfound. If you thought the temporary shut down of last year was bad, I will ensure Hogwarts does not open for the rest of the year!"

Snipely stormed out and McGonagall sighed. "Miss Granger, you heard him. You will head back to the Great Hall where the rest of the students are staying. Directly, Miss Granger. Do not attempt to find Mr. Malfoy, as that could be very damaging for both of you. I will send Hagrid to accompany you."

Hermione nodded slowly and left the office. Luna and Blaise were waiting for her when she came down.

"You haven't been arrested," Blaise pointed out unnecessarily just as Hagrid ambled up.

"Come on. I have to take you all to the Great Hall."

Blaise pushed the girls ahead of Hagrid so that they were out of earshot. "What happened?"

"I didn't tell them anything."

"But I thought-"

"It wasn't Easter."

"What?"

She shushed them, glancing over her shoulder at Hagrid. "I'll explain later, but I really need to find Draco."

"They haven't found him?"

"No. He must have moved. Maybe the Room of Requirement."

"We can't go now," Luna said. "They have everyone in the Great Hall."

"How much trouble are you in?" Blaise asked.

"We'll talk later." She turned to Luna. "If you want to go in ahead-"

Luna shook her head, slipping her hand into Blaise's. "I cannot imagine why I would want to do that."

They entered the Great Hall and all eyes were immediately upon them. There was nothing hostile in them yet so Hermione assumed that Celeste's death had not yet become public. Harry gestured them over to where he, Ginny, and Ron were sitting. To Hermione's surprise, Ron did not get up when she sat down at the table, but he would not look at her.

"Where have you all been?" Harry asked hurriedly. "They called roll and everyone knows you were gone. Malfoy and Celeste Gibbons were gone, too."

Hermione shook her head. "Not now, Harry."

"Do you know why we're here?" Ginny asked. "They won't tell us why we're here, but we know something happened up on the fourth floor."

Before any reply could be given, McGonagall walked in with Snipely. She went up to the staff table and faced the student body.

"Students, as you are aware, last year we had an incident with a creature attack. It was believed that the situation was taken care of, but it seems that is not the case. About an hour ago, there was an attack."

Students broke into murmurs and people looked between the Ravenclaw and Slytherin tables. McGonagall held up her hands.

"Please. I must be allowed to finish. During the course of the attack…It is my sad duty to inform you that our Head Girl Celeste Gibbons has been killed."

The Hall fell quiet. Expressions of horror and disbelief ran rampant and people started looking over to where Hermione and her friends were sitting. She could feel Ron's eyes on her, but she could not meet anyone's gaze. When McGonagall failed to crack a smile and call it all a joke, tears started.

"In this time of grief and uncertainty, I am extending to all students the opportunity to return home. The creature has not been found, but measures are being taken to secure the castle. However, I have contacted your parents and you are perfectly at liberty to leave. It should be known that the Ministry is devoting all of its resources to closing this horrible crime as quickly as possible and has assured me that they will provide sufficient protection to students so that no other attack takes place." This statement seemed to upset Snipely, but he managed to keep his mouth shut. "Celeste's parents will be holding a memorial service out by the lake in two days and has extended an invitation to…to all students." Her gaze flickered to Hermione before she sighed. "Now, classes will be cancelled tomorrow for a day of silence. Students will stay in the Great Hall tonight."

People were crying, yelling, and the Ravenclaws turned on Gryffindor, causing such a scene in an attempt to get to Hermione that professors had to come in and separate them. Blaise pushed the girls back while Harry and even Ron had their wands out to ward off attackers. They all retreated to a corner while professors tried to soothe the crowd.

After things calmed down and sleeping bags were distributed, the group circled up and leaned in.

"So, what is going on?" Ginny asked. Hermione glanced between her and Ron nervously, and Blaise rolled his eyes.

"Granger, it is a little late for you to get a conscience about who you're recruiting for your trip to Azkaban."

"What?" Ron frowned. "Who the hell's going to Azkaban?"

"Shh!" Blaise rolled his eyes. "Bloody hell, Weasley. Keep your voice down before we all get expelled."

Hermione shook her head. "Nobody's getting expelled. It wasn't Easter."

Now Harry's eyebrows rose. "What?"

"Yeah, you should probably explain that, Granger."

She took a deep breath. "Blaise, tell me where you hit Easter with the Killing Curse."

"Face. Burned the side of the face."

"Harry, where did I hit Easter when we were down in the dungeons?"

"Chest."

Blaise frowned and then there was a sort of righteous rage that passed over his face. "No. NO! Damn it, Granger!"

"Shh! I know."

"What?" Ginny snapped. "Will someone fill us in?"

Hermione turned to her. "That creature from Christmas…I found him in Knockturn Alley before school started. I never told you all about it because it kept disappearing every time I tried. Dr-_Malfoy_," she changed at Ron's agitated look, "found out about Easter and…he started helping me take care of him. Helped me try to figure out what he was, but we never figured it out. He got bigger, but he _wasn't_ dangerous. I should have known he wasn't dangerous. Not to me and…what attacked Malfoy and what killed Celeste wasn't Easter. It was something else."

"Granger, it was exactly like Easter."

"I know." She pulled her knees up to her chest, worry clear on her face. "I know. But Easter didn't do any of these things. He saved Draco, he didn't attack him. That other creature did."

Harry shook his head. "Hermione, even if…even if what you're saying is remotely possible, how are there _two_ of these things in the castle? Do you know how mad that sounds?"

"I know, Harry, but it's the truth! He showed up right before the officers found me and I saw his face and his chest. Nothing on his face, burn on his chest. There has to be another creature in the castle."

Luna made a strange noise before slapping a hand over her mouth, eyes wide. Ginny frowned.

"You're telling me that another creature like the one at the Burrow is here in the castle and killed Celeste?"

"And tried to kill Malfoy and myself last year. Maybe even Henrietta King, which would explain why Easter took off the way he did that day."

"Hermione, do you know how implausible that sounds?"

Blaise snorted. "That's not even the problem."

"What is?"

"Aside from the fact that there could be two giant, bloodthirsty creatures roaming the halls? Well, how about the fact that, even if it is true, it is impossible to prove. How do you know if another creature didn't save Draco and Easter is the one who tried to kill us? And if you're right and Easter is on the up and up, then think very hard Granger about what that means for you."

"I'm not following," Ron muttered.

"He means that even if there is another creature, it can't be proven and Draco and I will still be blamed for Celeste's murder. They already think he killed her for me."

"Seriously?"

Hermione nodded. "I need to find Draco. We need to sort this out before someone else gets hurt."


	21. Chapter 21

"So, what is the plan?"

Blaise snorted. "See how Weasley's countenance has changed."

Ron glared. "Zabini, just because Hermione is okay with you, doesn't mean I have to be."

"Granger, please explain how, as Draco's advocate while he is away, I will have no issue systematically shoving brooms into every one of Weasley's orifices if he continues looking at me like that."

Hermione shook her head. "We don't have time for this. We need to find Draco."

"You don't know where he is?" Ginny asked.

"No, but neither does the Ministry or McGonagall. They can't track him."

"Room of Requirement," Harry said immediately and Hermione nodded.

"That's what I was thinking, but how do we get up there?"

"We?" Blaise chuckled darkly as he was want to do, that disdainful look on his face. "Granger, I don't know how many times I have to explain this to people before they understand it. I do not like cats. And not only do I not like cats, I detest the idea of trying to navigate floors and floors of Hogwarts while not one but _two_ of those beasts are prowling the corridors looking for a meal."

"None of you are coming. I have to do this on my own-"

"Hermione, there is no way we are letting you go out there on your own!" Harry snapped. "If there really are two, then you shouldn't be going either."

"I have to find Draco! We're the only two who can actually approach Easter."

"Even after you tried to kill him? Do you really think he'll let you?"

She flushed a little, thinking about her encounter with him before she was picked up. "I can't be worried about that. Harry, do you have your cloak?"

"They're watching you," Ginny pointed out, nodding towards the doors. "The Ministry officials, the professors, students. Basically everyone is watching you, Hermione. You're not going anywhere."

Hermione was about to throw her hands up in defeat when Luna smiled wistfully and pulled out her wand.

"Ginny, I will need your help."

"For what?"

"For letting the others escape."

Hermione shook her head. "I'm going alone."

"I can hardly imagine that happening, no matter what Blaise says. He's often wrong about his behavior." Luna squeezed Blaise's hand. "I can't let you go without him, either way."

"Luna-"

"Take the opportunity when you see it or remain here. It really is your choice."

She took her butterbeer cap necklace and placed it around Blaise neck before gesturing for Ginny to follow her. Ginny gave Harry a meaningful look and then got up. They watched both girls disappear across the Hall and then turned to Blaise. He had a strange look on his face, like he was battling indigestion. Noticing that he was being watched, he quickly tucked the necklace out of sight and glared at the offending gazers.

"What?"

Hermione took this time to look at Ron. She had not spoken to him in ages it felt like and it was strange seeing him amongst the group again. He glanced at her, shifting a little.

"You didn't really answer my question about what the plan was."

She wanted to ask him why he was here, but decided that it was not the time. "I don't know. If…if I'm right and there's another creature in the castle, we have to find a way of proving it before they put Draco and I away. Harry, tell me you have your map."

There was such a commotion that started in the Ravenclaw section of the Great Hall that everyone's head turned. The officers at the door did not move, however. The group craned their necks to see what was going on and was shocked beyond words to see Luna Lovegood going at it with a prefect and two friends of Celeste's. Ginny was holding Luna back as one of Celeste's friends made a comment backed up by pointing over at the group and making a crude hand gesture. One could only assume Blaise was the topic of discussion because Luna's face became red as a beet. She yelled something back and then hexes were flying. Hermione grabbed Blaise's shoulder when he made to stand.

"She is a capable witch," she reminded him. "Otherwise you wouldn't have anything to do with her."

Blaise's lip curled but he remained where he was. Besides, Luna's row was doing the trick, as more fights were breaking out amongst the students. The officers were forced to move in as hexes were going everywhere. Hermione turned to the boys.

"If this doesn't go well, then you are all risking getting expelled or worse for me."

Ron and Harry broke into grins. "I thought there was nothing worse than getting expelled, Hermione," Ron said and she smiled despite the situation. They were okay. That was what she needed.

"God, Granger." Blaise pointed to the door. "Now is not the time for making up."

She rolled her eyes but did as she was beckoned. After a few more officers had come rushing into the Hall, she took off, the boys right behind her. Knowing the castle was crawling with officers, they ducked into an alcove and Harry pulled out the map.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

"Isn't that the truth," Blaise grumbled as they all leaned in. "Bloody hell."

"You have a hard time shutting up, don't you?" Harry muttered before pointing to the seventh floor. "We should try the Room of Requirement first. Maybe he got up there before they finished searching the castle."

Hermione nodded and they started up, using the map to avoid officers. When they reached their destination, there was no door present as suspected but nobody quite knew what to do next. Hermione touched the wall where she knew the room was, trying desperately to think of a way to get the door to appear. If Draco were hiding in there, he would have made it impossible for intruders to get in but not for her. He would have wanted her to get in if she ever found her way there. But this was a very large if.

"Why don't you just bang on the wall?" Blaise snapped after a few minutes of silence. Everyone turned to him and he rolled his eyes. "Idiots. Bang on the wall."

She silently thanked God for Blaise's abrupt but helpful commentary and rapped the wall hard while the others kept watch.

"Draco," she called softly. "Draco, if you're in there-"

The wall swung open, smacking her in the face and knocking her to the ground. There was a short commotion and then they were all in a wide well-lit circular room. Four pairs of male eyes stared down at Hermione as she held her swelling nose, trying not to cry.

"You idiot!" she gasped.

"Don't stand so close to the wall next time," came that wonderful drawling voice and she was hauled to her feet by strong, familiar hands. "What the hell are you all…oh, for crying out loud. Someone with wand fix her before she bleeds all over."

Someone muttered a spell and her nose corrected itself. The bleeding stopped and another spell cleaned up the spilt blood. She blinked away some tears before looking up at Draco's pale but relieved face.

"I thought I got rid of you," he muttered. She smiled.

"You'll never believe-"

"Easter's not the only creature in the castle." His mouth turned into a self-satisfied smirk at the four surprised looks he received. "Yes, love. I came to that conclusion shortly after you left me for the second time. Or was it the third? I can't keep track, you've done it so many times."

"How do you know?"

"I am a Malfoy, Granger. It is my business to be a step ahead of you."

There was a huffing sound, followed by four gasps of shock and one curt snort of disapproval.

"Also, your feline showed up here shortly after I did."

Hermione made to approach the large cat, but Draco stopped her. "I wouldn't. He is in a mood and you are probably not his favorite person, being as you tried to kill him and all."

Ron was the most horrified of the bunch, gaping at the creature crouching down in the only dark corner of the room. "I…I don't believe-"

"Catch up, Weasley," Blaise muttered, moving to a spot as far away from Easter as possible. "So it is true, hm? Damn."

"You saw the burn on his chest," Hermione said and Draco nodded.

"Nothing on his face. I looked for another burn on him, but nothing so I don't think he attacked us down in the dungeons."

They took seats near Blaise, watching Easter as he started licking his scarred legs.

"That other one…Draco, it must be bigger than Easter. I don't know how we didn't notice it before."

"Perhaps because we were busy running from it."

Ron turned to Hermione. "You're saying there's another one of those bastards running around the castle and it's bigger?"

"It must have been in the castle since October," Hermione muttered. "That's when he scratched me. When he ran out of the shadows like he was running from something."

"We're all ignoring the big problem," Blaise interjected with an uncharacteristically large amount of worry on his face. "Someone madder than Granger had to have brought a walking killing machine identical to hers into the castle. If the beast over there didn't hurt anyone, then someone's made damn sure it looked like Easter did and that Granger and Draco are taking the fall for it."

Hermione groaned, getting up and pacing. "This is a right mess!" She turned to Easter. "How do we prove it wasn't him? That it wasn't me?"

"We find the other one."

Blaise laughed at Draco's comment. "Ah, Draco. I missed your sarcasm."

"I wasn't joking."

"Well, I was." Blaise stood, anger evident. "I don't know if you've caught on, but in the last several attempts made on this creature's life, we have managed only burn and upset it more. What do you think the damn thing is going to do to us if we willingly go looking for it?"

"Are you saying you won't come?"

"Of course not, that's the problem!" Blaise yelled. "I _have_ to bloody come and watch your back, Draco, because you've got no wand! God knows Granger will be no good to anyone if you up and die, and I don't trust Weasley or Potter as far as I can throw them. Of course I have to come. I am simply letting you know that if I die before I get a proper run with Lovegood, I will personally haunt all of you until Judgment Day, understood?"

Draco smiled wanly. "I thought as much. Sit down, you're scaring Potter and Weasley."

Hermione had wandered over to Easter, who regarded her in the same way he had in the corridor. But he did not pull away when she reached out to him, watching her hand carefully as it rested upon his muzzle.

"I'm sorry," she whispered when his eyes rose to meet hers. "I am _so_ sorry, Easter. If I had left you in that shop, none of this would have happened to you."

Chest thrumming, he stuck his pink nose in her face, huffing softly. The air it breathed was warm and forgiving. She smiled, wrapping her arms around the neck.

"Granger."

She turned to see the boys staring at her. Draco stood.

"Time to go. We need to find this thing fast."

"How do we plan on doing that?" Ron asked. "And before you say something smart, Zabini, that's a warranted question. By now, that stunt in the Great Hall's died down and they'll know we're gone. Five of us won't last long trying to find something that's so far proven it doesn't want to be found."

Blaise looked a little upset at Ron having made sense. Hermione almost smiled, but Ron's words prohibited the action.

"We split up."

"Are you mad?" Harry shook his head. "We're not splitting up."

"As much as I detest saying it, Potter's right," Draco said. "I don't much favor letting anyone here go to their dooms."

"We don't have much of a choice. Five of us together are going to get caught! They will find us easily. Separated, we can stand a chance."

"And do what, look where the Ministry is already looking?" Blaise pointed out, much to Hermione's irritation.

"We go to the dungeons."

Draco paled. "No."

"Draco-"

"Nobody goes down there."

"We have to go where we know it will be!" She could see his fear and knew it was not just for himself. Not only were they risking the lives of their best friends, but he was risking her if they went down again. "I am not going to sit here and let somebody else get hurt, Draco. Nothing you say is going to convince me otherwise and you know that."

"And when it does attack? Nothing we do has stopped it."

"Nothing magical." She gestured to Easter. "Look at him. He's cut up from the walls, from being attacked. We take non-magical weapons with us."

"What, like muggle weapons?" Ron groaned. "We're all dead."

"I completely agree," Blaise added.

"Look, nobody here has to-"

"Save it, Hermione," Harry interrupted. "We are going with you. End of discussion."

She took a deep breath, closing her eyes. _I need non-magical weapons that can hurt something like Easter…I need non-magical weapons that can hurt something like Easter…_

"Bloody hell."

She opened her eyes. There on a table were some long daggers, already sharpened and ready for use. Everyone took one, examining his or her weapon carefully. Light and keen, they were easy to grip and drew blood at slightest touch, which Harry discovered. Hermione turned to the boys.

"We should split up into three and two."

"You're coming with me," Draco said immediately, but to his surprise she shook her head.

"No, I…I'm going to go with Harry and Ron." At his confused look, she drew him to the side. "I…I don't want to go through what happened last time."

"Granger-"

"I can't," she snapped, looking up at him sharply. "I can't and I won't."

"But you'll go see Potter and Weasley off to their deaths?"

She slapped him so stunningly hard that the room got quiet. "I'm sorry," she gasped, stepping away from him immediately afterwards. "I'm sorry, I just…I don't want to hear…Draco, please don't make me go with you. I don't want us to get in the way of what we're supposed to do."

He rubbed his cheek ruefully before nodding. "I understand."

"Draco-"

"Come on, Blaise," he muttered. He conjured a lead and put it on Easter. Blaise shook his head, eyes wide.

"No!"

"You don't have a choice, remember."

He didn't even glance back at her when he, Blaise, and Easter left the room. Hermione covered her face, trying to stop stray tears from falling. Her stomach was knotted horribly and everything in her told her to run out after them. To embrace Draco one last time before they went their separate ways. To kiss him.

But she stayed those desires, removing her hands and taking a deep breath. She needed to be clear of Draco if she was going to do this correctly.

"Alright, let's go."

The Marauder's Map proved useful in getting them down to the dungeons and for keeping track of Draco and Blaise, who had gotten into the dungeons after them. Unfortunately, Easter did not show up on the map, so they were essentially going blind.

More lights had been put in the winding corridors of the dungeons, making the trek less ominous, but it also meant they had more company to avoid. The Trio was constantly ducking into alcoves to let officers pass by. During this time, Hermione inquired as to why Ron had joined them.

"I missed you," he said after a while of not responding. "What I said…well, I didn't have the right to say it. You were right. I was a hateful git."

"I shouldn't have said-"

"You had every right, Hermione. I lost my temper after finding out about Malfoy, but…I still know what kind of person you are. You don't deserve all the things they are saying about you. I know you would never endanger students. Not on purpose, anyway."

She smiled, taking his hand. "Thank you, Ron. I'm glad you're here. I missed you, too."

"Lights are out up ahead," Harry muttered, bringing Hermione and Ron out of their reunion. They had their wands and daggers out as Hermione took the lead. "Malfoy and Zabini are a ways behind us."

"We don't have time to wait," she whispered. "I'm sorry," she added, stopping.

"Hermione-"

"I love you both."

The boys glanced at each other before nodding. "We love you, Hermione."

Without replying she plunged into the darkness. "_Lumos._"

They continued on for quite some time without incident, checking dead end corridors and calling out, uncertain of how much noise they should make. Hermione, however, knew that if it was down there, odds were it was already stalking them. The thought made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.

The loud snap of air popping was their only warning before all three were bowled over. Hermione heard Harry scream and pointed her wand around to find out where he was. Ron grabbed her arm, pulling her to her feet just before a tail whipped out and knocked their heads straight into the wall. Hermione sunk to the ground, losing consciousness amongst the screaming of her dear friends.

* * *

><p>"Wake up, you stupid mudblood! <em>Crucio!<em>"

She gasped as pain surged through her. It was only for a couple moments, but it ripped her up and she could not move save to try and breathe afterwards. She was hauled to her feet and flung against a wall.

"Look up, Granger."

She raised her gaze to meet Nott's. "I knew-"

"Oh, shut up!" He grabbed her face so that his hand covered her mouth. "Shut up, Granger. I didn't tell you to speak."

There were five other Slytherins in the room, all of them watching Nott and Hermione carefully. Nott's eyes were blazing as he looked over her, a smile of triumph on his face.

"I knew you would come. I counted on it. It's too perfect!" He moved his hand away from her mouth but dug his wand into her side. "Be very careful, Granger. Spit and I will kill you."

She managed a loathing glare to mask the panic she felt. "I knew it was you."

"Of course it was me! I told you I would ruin you." He laughed, a sound that turned her stomach. "It was so perfect, how it turned out. None of them thought I would do it, but it turned out so much better than what I planned. I couldn't have destroyed you better if I wanted to." At her confused look, he laughed again. "It's alright. Go ahead and ask. It's only natural for you to want to know why you're going to go to get the Dementor's Kiss."

"You set that other creature into the castle."

He rolled his eyes. "God, Granger, you dumb bitch. Of course I did. It was all planned, but you...you did such a spectacular job of changing it. You see, that _creature_? It's a cross between a Mngwa and a bakeneko. Some mad bastard down in Tanzania managed to cross them before getting ripped to shreds himself. When I found out, I just had to have them. Three were sent up, but they told me two of them died in transport. Guess two survived. It was all very vexing when the damn thing escaped en route to Hogwarts, but I guess you already had yours by then, huh?" He grinned. "I knew it was you. At first I thought it was a coincidence on the train, then with the bag. Malfoy didn't know what he had and I knew something was up when all of those potions supplies went missing. But you want to know what your mistake was?" He leaned in so that she could feel his breath on her skin, making her squirm. "You and Malfoy should have chosen a better place to snog then the back of the castle. Never know who's watching."

She tried to push him away, but he just moved closer, eyes undressing her unashamedly while his breath got heavier. "That little experiment with the King girl worked perfectly! Of course, your stupid Mngwa got in the way in the dungeons, but that's alright. I'll still get my way with Malfoy in the end. I'll get my way with you, too," he whispered into her ear.

"You're insane."

"I am brilliant!" he roared, stepping away from her with arms akimbo. "All of those stupid Death Eaters, they pushed us aside and wouldn't let us fight the war! Tried to take Hogwarts and failed! FAILED! Me, I was going to perform the greatest trick ever!" He came back to her so fast, she gasped and shrunk away. "Kill everyone. Last night of school, while everyone was fast asleep in their beds, I would have let loose my beast. _Everyone_. Dead in their beds. Halls filled with blood and only those loyal to me remaining. And not a damn thing anyone could do! I would have murdered everyone in Hogwarts and gotten away with it! But you...you stupid witch, you had no idea what you did! And it was perfect. Now everyone believes it was you. Or, rather, they believe it was Malfoy, which is perfect. See, it was easy to get Celeste away from her friends. She's a bit of a slut, not like you. Got her away and got the Mngwa to do her in. With her dead and everyone already thinking Malfoy was trying to off everyone, they'll think you made him do it. Got your boyfriend to kill your rival."

"I'll tell them-"

"Tell them what? That you have a Mngwa but it didn't do any of the terrible things they're accusing you of? That _I_ had something to do with it? Who do you think they're going to believe, Granger? A jilted mudblood with a suspect boyfriend or the Head Boy?"

He laughed at her fear-stricken face. "That's what I want to see, mudblood. That fear on your face. I want to see that! But, alas, my plan isn't done. You see, it's not enough to just kill off the rival. Has to be more...more poignant."

He grabbed her by the hair and dragged her kicking and screaming out into the corridor.

"Hermione!"

She was dropped in front of Ron, who helped her up to her feet. Nott's face was alight with malicious glee as the two Gryffindors held onto each other.

"You had quite the blowout with Weasley, didn't you?" he whispered and Hermione's eyes widened. "He and Malfoy aren't on good terms with each other. And everyone saw how quickly Weasley came to your rescue when Malfoy wasn't around. Malfoy isn't one to sit back and let someone like Weasley try and steal his girl back. I wonder if the Ministry knows who has control of that creature of yours."

A terrible growl shook the walls and Hermione's heart. "Nott, please don't-"

"Oh, I will," he whispered, the glee gone and replaced by vicious loathing. "I told you I would see you dead."

When a pair of angry gold eyes appeared beside Nott, Ron took off, Hermione tow. Nott's laughter echoed in the dark corridors as they ran. They had just gotten to a lit staircase when Ron was knocked down, the creature right over him. Hermione screamed as it bit down into Ron's back and started dragging him back. She grabbed his arms, trying to pull him back, but the creature's tail whipped over and knocked her away. She tried again, grabbing a candlestick and ramming the burning end into the face. It released Ron, pawing furiously at its eye.

"Come on, Ron," she gasped, trying to get him up. He shoved her away.

"Run!"

"No, Ron-"

"RUN, HERMIONE!" he screamed just before the creature dug it's claws into his lower back and yanked him into the dark. His scream turned into a gurgled terrified shriek that turned to that horrible smacking crunch of fangs tearing through bloody flesh and bone. Hermione started running towards the sound, but someone grabbed her and started dragging her up the stairs.

"Let me go!"

"We have to go, Hermione!" Harry gasped as another pair of hands reached out to help him pull her up the stairs. She thrashed, unable to hear anything above the sounds of the Mngwa feasting.

"LET ME GO! RON! RON!"

* * *

><p><strong>And this is the part where I tell you that, unfortunately, I won't be able to update as often as I want. Updates will probably come every few days, maybe longer, depending on my schedule. That's why I left you with a long chapter this time, as well as that little bit at the end.<strong>


	22. Chapter 22

"Oh my God!"

"She's bleeding everywhere!"

"It's not hers. Damn it, someone open the door!"

"Oh my God!"

"Hurry up! Open the damn door!"

"Get the shower on."

Someone guided her into the shower and then turned it on. She cried uncontrollably and the sudden spray of water made it worse to the point where she sank down in the corner, no longer able to stand. Her body was wracked with her own sobs and partial screams of pain.

"Turn that shower off! You are destroying evidence!"

The water stopped coming. Madam Pomfrey stepped out of the bathroom to the waiting infirmary full of officers. Snipely and McGonagall were upon her first.

"I have to take her."

"You certainly will not!" Madam Pomfrey declared. "She is in a terrible state and not fit for any sort of questioning you no doubt will subject her to."

"I don't know if everyone in Hogwarts it blind to that girl's activities, but I certainly am not! Another student's body is lying shredded and Miss Granger there is soaked in his blood. She is no longer simply a person of interest but is, along with Mr. Draco Malfoy, our prime suspect and I will be taking her into custody!"

"My concern for her health and safety overrides your need to see her in chains."

"What about the safety of your students? Miss Granger and Mr. Malfoy are clearly involved in some kind of murder spree, and not only are you ignoring it, but you are trying to protect them both from being questioned on it! Madam Headmistress, you must see reason-"

"Do you really think that after all Miss Granger did for the magical community, she would simply turn around and use some creature to kill students, especially Mr. Weasley, whom she cared a great deal about?"

"Madam, I am aware of the relationship between Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger, and know from countless interviews that any intimate relationship ended last year when Mr. Weasley discovered Miss Granger was involved with Mr. Malfoy. It was also told to me that the separation was not amicable in the least and that both Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger made irreprehensible comments about the other. As far as what she did for the magical community, I must remind you, Madam McGonagall, that for all Miss Granger's accomplishments leading to the Final Battle, she was not rewarded for it here at Hogwarts. The Head Girl position, a slot I know she wished to fill since arriving at the school, was given to Miss Celeste Gibbons, who as you know very well is dead! The case mounts against her, and Mr. Malfoy's actions upon her apprehension downstairs are not in anyone's favor."

"He was trying to protect a distraught girl."

"He was trying to keep her mouth shut. He attacked several officers, had to be forcibly restrained, and even then he would not stop his tirade. And now, on top of the mess he and Miss Granger have made, they have dragged a Mr. Blaise Zabini and the bloody Boy-Who-Lived into this! No, Madam Headmistress, I will not be told to wait. I have been held off long enough by your stonewalling. Officers, please go fetch Miss Granger and arrest her on two counts of murder by proxy. If anyone tries to stop you, they will be arrested for interfering in an investigation and as accomplices."

McGonagall watched helplessly as two officers dragged Hermione out of the room. She was dripping water and blood all over the floor, and she could barely hold her head up as she continued to wail. Snipely's lip curled in disdain but he motioned for them to follow. McGonagall stopped him at the door.

"Use the floo in Madam Pomfrey's room."

A smirk came to Snipely's cold face and he pushed the woman aside. "Miss Granger will leave in the carriage waiting at the Entrance Hall. A floo ride may be too jarring for her poor nerves."

Down in the Great Hall, students were once again pressed up against the windows as they watched Draco, Blaise, and Harry set down on the ground outside a carriage. The two Slytherins were bound behind their backs while Harry was left untouched, his status as the savior of the magical community making officers hesitant to treat him unduly. Ginny and Luna tried to go out to see what was going on, but officers prohibited them. Everyone was a buzz. What was going on? Why were the three outside? Where were Hermione and Ron?

A plaintive cry brought everyone to the Great Hall doors. Coming down the stairs were two officers and between them was Hermione, sobbing and unreachable as they marched her through the Entrance Hall. Outside, the boys had turned at the sound and when Hermione appeared in the doorway in her state, Draco was set off again. Cursing and seething, he was forced into a carriage before he could do any damage. Blaise and Harry followed, though not compliantly.

But none of this registered to Hermione. She could hear nothing, see nothing, say nothing past the sounds of despair that erupted from her breaking heart.

* * *

><p>"Mr. Malfoy, do you know how much trouble you are in?"<p>

"Tell me where she is."

"That's not your concern."

"Bullshit! What did you do with her?"

"Mr. Malfoy, your actions may be looked on as sweet in her eyes, but I only see more reason to tighten the restraints. Now, either you answer my questions, or-"

"Or what?"

Snipely rolled his eyes and motioned to the guard. "Take him back. He will just go before the Wizengemot."

"Where is she?" Draco yelled while being dragged out. Snipely watched him go before leaving as well. A piece of parchment zipped up and, taking it, he scowled. He headed towards his office, a little annoyed to find it full of Weasleys and Lovegoods.

"Arthur," he greeted the family patriarch. "I'm sorry you came all the way down here. Mr. Potter is in custody right now."

"Nobody has told us what has happened," Molly said, clutching her husband's hand hard. "Where are Ron, Harry, and Hermione?"

Snipely's eyebrow rose. "Nobody's told you yet?" Sighing, he sat behind his desk. "As you know, the beast got out."

"Yes, we know about Celeste Gibbons." Arthur frowned. "Is that what this is about? You can't possibly think those three had anything to do with it."

"Nor Blaise or Mr. Malfoy," said Mr. Lovegood, touching his daughter's shoulder. Snipely's eyebrow rose.

"Mr. Malfoy and Miss Granger were involved and Mr. Malfoy previously took ownership for the creature."

"Hermione would never hurt anyone," Ginny snapped. "Neither would the others. This is a mistake."

"I want to see my son and his friends," Molly demanded. Snipley shook his head.

"That's impossible at this point. I am sorry to have to inform you that your son was found murdered in the dungeons last night."

Molly was the only one who actually made a noise. The rest of them just stared in initial shock and gradual horror and disbelief.

"No," Arthur murmured. "No, that's impossible."

Snipely shifted in discomfort, not particularly fond of being outnumbered by folks he knew were getting very bad news.

"I'm so sorry, Arthur," he said, though his tone was less empathetic than it should have been. "Because of how similar the scene is to Miss Gibbons', we were forced to take Miss Granger into custody. Harry and Mr. Zabini were at the scene, so they are also in custody."

Luna embraced Ginny as the girl started crying. The older boys were quiet, not quite sure how to react. Even Percy looked out of his element, much as he did when Fred had passed. Arthur gripped his wife's shoulders, taking a deep breath to keep himself from falling apart.

"Hermione would never-"

"With all due respect, Arthur, you've no idea what that witch would ever do." He stood. "My deepest condolences."

He left them to his office, meeting Harker out in the corridor. "How did they take it?"

"I want to talk to the Weasley girl and Luna Lovegood before long," he said as the two men started walking towards the main office area. "They both know some things that could be helpful in the investigation."

"Did Malfoy say anything?"

"No. He just wants to see Granger. Probably to get their stories straight or to tell her to keep her mouth shut. I imagine he'll be wanting to take all the credit for the two murders."

"You don't think he did it himself?"

Snipely shook his head. "No. Malfoy's not got his father in him. Skipped town during the war. I don't peg him as cold enough to do it on his own."

"But you think Granger would?"

"I think the girl had enough motive, at least for Gibbons'. And she managed to get Malfoy, the devout pureblood, to fall in love with her. I think she could have gotten him to do anything for her, including offing Gibbons and Weasley."

"You really think she took out Weasley?"

Snipely shrugged. "Doesn't matter. She's going down for both and so is Malfoy. Murder by proxy will do them both in. Hey, did we ever get the results back on the tests?"

"Yeah, they just came in. You'll never believe. It's Mngwa _and_ Bakeneko."

"You're joking."

"Wish I was. I think we'll have to close down the school. There's no way we get that thing out of the castle."

"Question is how did that witch get one in. And without anyone noticing that big bastard. Well, we'll find out. Look, I want this case airtight, understood. Get the fur and blood samples rushed, okay? When the Wizengemot gets it, I want a unanimous verdict, understood?"

Harker nodded and took off. Snipely took a deep breath and entered through a dark metal door. There were a line of cells and in the middle one sat Hermione. After being brought to the Ministry, her clothes had been removed and she had been showered before being placed in the cell. She looked rather miserable, hair damp and clinging to her milk-white skin. Her eyes were closed and she was leaning against the wall as if unable to sit straight on her own.

"Miss Granger."

He opened the cell as she opened her eyes. They were dull, very different from their last interview.

"Miss Granger, I am giving you one last chance to explain yourself. After this, it goes to the Wizengemot and there will be no mercy."

She looked down at her hands. "I'm sorry."

His eyebrow rose. "Excuse me?"

"I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused."

He sat across from her. "Miss Granger, you need to understand the amount of trouble-"

"Ron is dead." Her eyes met his with such sudden fury that he leaned away. "Ron is dead because of me. Because he…because he tried to protect me, even after everything I did to him." She shook her head, looking away. "You don't care, though. You're going to put me in Azkaban."

"I am. I don't approve of murderers being any place else."

"I never said I killed Ron."

"You said-"

"He's dead because of me. That's not an admission of guilt, not that it matters. I may as well have killed him."

He frowned. "Your friend is dead and you still refuse to take responsibility. How cold are your veins, Miss Granger?"

He caught her by the wrists before she could pummel him. "I didn't kill him!" she cried. "I would never…I would never hurt Ron!" She wrenched herself away, eyes dark as coal. "But I tell you, I'll kill who did."

"So now it's someone else?"

"It was always someone else. I never…I thought it was me, but it's not. I didn't do any of this."

"Really? And who did?"

She sank back into her seat. "Does it matter? I can't prove anything."

"Then you all go."

Her eyes widened. "Please, Draco had nothing to do with this! Nobody did! This is all my doing!"

"It doesn't work that way. Malfoy already claimed responsibility of the creature and, since you two are lovers, that puts you both at the heart of both murders."

Hermione shook her head. "Draco took responsibility because he didn't want me to get expelled! I was the one who brought Easter into Hogwarts."

"I'll be sure to tell the Wizengemot that at your trial," said he as he closed the cell door. "You are in helpless water, Miss Granger. The best thing you can do for yourself is tell the truth."

"I am!"

He shrugged. "Then God save you."


	23. Chapter 23

**Here's another long one for waiting so long! Sorry this took so long. Life is one hectic coincidence after another. Hope you enjoy and tell me what you think about the change in prospective!**

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><p>"Ah, there you are."<p>

Snipely glanced over his shoulder at Harker and another officer, a woman named Jeanette Kirby. The two hurried down the stairs to where Snipely was surveying the corridor Ronald Weasley died in. It had been left untouched save to remove the poor boy's remains, what little there was. The beast had not found much taste for head, various organs, and bones.

"Do you have the results of the tests?" he inquired, gazing at the blood stained walls with less horror and more curiosity.

"No, gov," Kirby answered, handing over a folder. "There's a backlog at the test center, but they have assured me-"

"I don't want to hear about what they have assured you, Kirby. Miss Granger and Mr. Malfoy go on trial tomorrow. I want an airtight case and I cannot present one if I do not have the tests."

"I don't see how it's relevant," Harker muttered as Snipely stepped carefully around a dried scarlet pool. "Surely we have enough evidence to convince the Wizengemot."

"That is not the point. All of our evidence is circumstantial. I want the whole thing locked down. I want the scenes tied together. I want proof Granger and Malfoy were present. I want to nail those two sick bastards in the ass with how much proof I have before seeing them off to a Dementor's Kiss, do you understand? Those two loons have it in their heads to make it out as if they had nothing to do with it, or at least Granger does. Malfoy seems to want to take all the blame on himself, but I won't have it. I want them both."

"But we already have all of the evidence we need from here. What more are you looking for?"

Snipely picked up a tuft of dark blue fur before turning to his two subordinates. "Tell me, do either of you know anything about what it is that we're looking for? The beast, that is."

Kirby and Harker exchanged glances before shrugging. "There was rumor it might be a Mngwa or some beast from Japan. They never really got to finish examining it when it escaped."

"Nasty creatures, either one. Dangerous and never actually been seen by any living soul, save right before imminent death. You saw the looks on those poor souls' faces, hm? Straight terror, greater than even that Basilisk." Snipely rolled the fur around between his fingers, frowning. "The Mngwa is native only to East Africa while the Japanese one is, well, Japanese. So how do you suppose Granger and Malfoy put their hands on one?"

"Is it important?"

Snipely's gaze was so severe that both officers took a step back. "Important? A bloodthirsty unknown creature is on the loose in the castle and you dare ask me if I think it's important how it got here? How two teenage students got their hands on a creature so vicious, it kills without mercy or hesitation?"

Kirby swallowed hard before nodding. "I understand, gov. I'll go check in with some contacts from Rwanda. See if they know anything."

"It should have been done a long time ago," Snipely muttered as Kirby moved away. "All this time being stonewalled by McGonagall, only to have another death to contend with."

A note zoomed in, stopping short of Harker's face. Snipely watched Harker carefully as the man read the parchment.

"They have finished searching the second and third sublevels. Nothing. Sir, if Miss Granger and Malfoy are in charge of this thing, then maybe it only attacks when they tell it to. Do you think we will really have much luck finding it?"

"I have no doubt that we will not find it, Mr. Harker. That is not the point."

"What is?"

Snipely walked several paces before gesturing to the wall. "What do you see?"

"Claw marks."

"Anything strike you about them?"

Harker looked closely. "Nothing, really."

"Quite."

"Sir, I don't understand-"

"Something feels very odd, Mr. Harker," Snipely said over his shoulder as he headed back to the stairs. "Very odd. I want a full report on my desk by midnight or I'll have you fed to that werewolf they just brought in. I hear he's very hungry at this time of the month."

Snipely returned to the ground level. The castle was eerily quiet, having been abandoned by all its inhabitants a while ago. The Ministry had forced Hogwarts to close in light of Ronald Weasley's death, an event that shook the whole student body. Word had soon gotten out that Granger and Draco were involved, as well as Blaise Zabini and Harry Potter. Things got so out of hand that at one point The Daily Prophet had headlines out that read _HARRY POTTER MURDERS BELOVED FRIEND_, which was immediately pulled for a less sensational headline _DEATH EATER'S SON SLAUGHTERS MINISTER OFFICIAL'S DAUGTER_.

The Weasley family was in the middle of this media frenzy, so much so that they barricaded themselves in the Burrow. Unfortunately, this did not keep them from enduring constant Ministry presence, with Snipely at the lead. His primary interests were Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood. Zabini and Potter had been surprisingly non-compliant despite urges on the part of Xenophilius Lovegood and Arthur Weasley respectively. Snipely had questioned both girls repeatedly, but neither divulged information and instead insisted on being allowed to see the boys, who were being kept at the Ministry as vital witnesses. Snipely had been granted the use of Veritaserum on Zabini and Potter, but the Wizengemot felt it would be overstepping its bounds in letting him use the truth serum on those being tried for murder.

Others had been brought in on questioning, including Celeste's friends, a few of Ron's classmates, the Head Boy, Theodore Nott, along with some other Slytherins, and Rubeus Hagrid. All of Celeste's friends declared Granger incompetent against Celeste, not very pretty, and that the muggleborn witch held a grudge a mile wide against Celeste for having gotten Head Girl. Ron's classmates all commented on a blow out between the deceased and Miss Granger right before the winter break that seemed to fester into ill feelings at the start of the new school year, though they did not know much on the subject. They did mention that Granger was largely missing from all activities outside of her schoolwork. Nott related a row between Celeste and Granger, as well as seeing Hermione sneak off multiple times during the night. When asked why she was never apprehended, Nott shrugged and stated that he had better things than to trade words with a mudblood, though Snipely felt there was some dark attitude towards Granger that nonchalance could not hide. The other Slytherins had the same tone, even more so against Malfoy, who they all spoke ill of. Rubeus Hagrid tried to say very little, but ended up revealing that Granger had done some inquiring into the Mngwa creature. Follow up with Madam Pince and a quick review of the Restricted Section, which put the librarian into some kind of rage, confirmed that line of reasoning.

Snipely went up to the second-floor girls' lavatory. After displacing a rather obnoxious and teary-eyed ghost, Snipely had been able to uncover some well-hidden grooves in the wall, as well a good idea of what had gone on in the restroom. The growing size and length of the claw marks related to Snipely an interesting point. That the creature they searched for now had not always been as menacing as it was now. At one point, it had been very small.

"This explains how she got it into the castle," he murmured, running his fingers over the marks. Still, for all of this mounting evidence, something about these walls and the ones down in the dungeon bothered him. His fingers once again clasped the blue tuft of hair and in his mind's eye he brought up a picture of that poor decrepit beast Charlie Weasley had brought into the Ministry. The magical creature department had been all a buzz. They had thought they had finally caught the elusive Mngwa. But the tests had returned inconclusive and the rate at which the creature healed only seemed to increase with the amount of pressure they put on Malfoy to come clean about how he came into possession of such a creature.

There was another thing that irked Snipely about the whole case. Granger and Malfoy. While Malfoy was perfectly content to take all of the blame for something he clearly could not have done on his own, Granger seemed torn between telling the truth to keep everyone else out of trouble and hiding some grave piece of information. Whatever the information was, Granger seemed to think it would do more harm than good revealing it because, even after returning several times to hear her side, she refused, saying only that she was to blame for every thing that happened. Yet she did not seem to want to own up to the deaths.

His lip curled. The selfless attitude of both lovers was admirable, but foolish. Both of them would see Azkaban and a Kiss. Trying to protect the other through this game of 'I did it' would get them nowhere.

"Damn it, Mr. Snipely," he heard Harker mutter and turned to see the man walk in. "You're not supposed to be wandering around alone in the castle."

"This area is well lit."

"Celeste Gibbons was attacked in a well lit corridor."

Snipely shrugged, following Harker out. "I have someplace to be. If you don't have any updates…?"

Harker shook his head. "No. They're still doing sweeps, but it's like I said. We're not going to find anything."

Ignoring the last part, Snipely headed up towards the Headmistress' office. He used the floo to get back to his office, where he found Arthur Weasley waiting for him with Ginny and Luna.

"Arthur, how are you?" he said curtly, going to his desk without looking at the two girls directly. "I'm sorry I missed the funeral. So busy."

"I understand that, Frank. But…would it be alright if I spoke with Hermione?"

"I'm afraid that's out of the question."

"But-"

"Arthur, you are the father of one of the victims that Miss Granger is being charged with murdering. I cannot in good conscience let you visit with her, even for a moment. Besides, her trial is tomorrow. No visitors allowed the night before."

"It's ridiculous that you think Hermione would murder Ron," Ginny snapped and Snipely finally turned his astute gaze on her.

"The only ridiculous thing is that there is any trial at all. With the amount of evidence that I have, it would be unnecessary to go before the Wizengemot. But, such are the rules of the land. I'm sorry, Arthur, but I must insist on you leaving. I do have loads to do."

"We want to see Harry and Blaise."

His eyebrow rose. "Quite. Well, they are being kept under watch as witnesses until this whole thing is over. You may see them tomorrow after the trial."

"They're not being charged, then?" Arthur said and Snipely shook his head.

"Oh, no. At least not for murder. But the Ministry does not look a kind eye on aiding murderers in their plots. I am sure they will receive some kind of punishment for their behavior in the events."

He gestured to the door, lips pressed in a thin line to assure his guests he had no interest in continuing the conversation. Arthur sighed and ushered the girls out. When the door was closed, Snipely sat down, flicking his wand at some boxes in the corner. Papers and items pertaining to the case floated out and about his office, slowing when they came directly before him. He laced his fingers together, resting his chin atop his hands as he carefully examined all the evidence again. With the test results, he would have everything he needed to close the books on Miss Granger and Mr. Malfoy. He would convince the Wizengemot of their twisted love affair, which obviously started some time at the beginning of the school year. Two hurting people thrown together by their mutual hatred of Celeste Gibbons. Perhaps Miss Granger was coerced out of her relationship with Ronald Weasley. Either way, they came together with a beast as their glue and, after standing Celeste's slants one last time, they set their beast upon the helpless girl. But it was not over. Ronald Weasley stood in their way, or perhaps just in Malfoy's way. Testimony will prove that Mr. Weasley, after having turned Hermione away at the end of last year, returned to her side. This caused Malfoy to spiral into such a jealous rage that he set the creature on Mr. Weasley.

He almost smiled at visualizing all the hands raised for a guilty verdict. But he could not. There, floating in front of him, were photos taken of the walls in the dungeons and in the lavatory. They showed him the full view, leaving no part uncovered. For all the guilty verdicts in the world, there was something wanting in these photos. Something in the photos of the dungeon that was lacking in those of the lavatory. Some clue that would make the verdict more satisfying for having been discovered.

He snatched two photos, glaring at them. "What am I missing?" he growled. Furious with himself for not seeing what was clearly eluding him, he made the long trip to the cells. Entering the long corridor, he paused in the shadows at the sound of voices.

"Please. Just, do this for me."

"I won't. You are not going to-"

"It's over, Draco…I've accepted that."

"I won't!"

There was a clang as someone banged against the cell bars. "You listen to me, you stupid muggle! This is not going to end with some Dementor getting the last kiss out of you!"

Soft, sad laughter echoed off the dank walls. "You've been so irrational, do you realize that? Your feelings towards me and in this whole situation. So irrational."

"And you haven't been mental?"

"I think the only mental thing I did was convince myself I could handle this." The laughter turned to choked sobs. "I won't remember any of it! They'll…I don't want to lose my soul, Draco. I'll go to Azkaban, but I…I can't forget any of you!"

Snipely's lip curled. Emotional moments was where he drew the line.

"Miss Granger, I need to speak to you."

"You stay away-"

Snipely flicked his wand at Malfoy's cell and a large stone slab sealed it off, making any of the irate blonde's comments mute. The Minister had put in a request to let the two have a moment together as long as someone was monitoring the conversations, something Snipely had fiercely rejected. Letting them have one last moment alone was so horribly inconvenient. But apparently he had been ignored.

He came to stand in front of the cell where Miss Granger was curled up on her cot, crying into her hands. Rolling his eyes, he rapped against the bars.

"Miss Granger, I do not have the luxury of time. Look…_LOOK!_"

She started, shocked at his angry outburst. He took a deep, calming breath before holding up the photos.

"Look at these if you would."

"Why?"

Insolent to the end. An unbecoming trait. "Your retorts are not welcome," he snarled. "Look at these now."

She came to the bars, glaring at him. "How does your conscience feel putting an innocent boy in Azkaban?"

"Tomorrow, quite, when the Wizengemot finds you both guilty."

"Then why are you here again?"

"What good is a solid case without more concrete for good measure? The photos."

She glanced at them with disinterest, clearly not caring anymore about her fate. "What about them?"

He searched her face for some hint. Some sign that the nagging in the back of his mind was justified. She noticed his intense gaze and, with a frown, took a better look at the photos. Her eyes lighted on the lavatory first and she touched it with a faint smile on her face. Good memories. Then her gaze turned to the dungeons and her countenance changed, but not in the way he expected. He thought he would see some remorse, some sadness that coincided with her behavior thus far. But instead, there was anger. Dark rage filled her brown eyes, especially as the image changed to show the hall where Ronald Weasley had met his end. It was so unnatural, so fierce that Snipely returned the photos to his pocket. She closed her eyes, tears falling down her cheeks as her hands clenched to fists.

Snipely left, making sure the cells were secure so that no more conversations could take place between the two students. He returned to his office, staring at the particular corridor that had brought out so much fury on Miss Granger's face. It was the same corridor that had bothered him earlier. It was strange that it was only this hall that brought that reaction. The corridor where it was believed Mr. Malfoy might have been attacked had obtained some of the same markings, yet had not elicited such a response. He enlarged both photos, paying careful attention to the grooves in the walls.

With a thought, he went up to the magical creature department. "Madam Biera," he said, tossing the photos in front of her. She scowled.

"Mr. Snipely, I have other things-"

"I need you to date those for me."

"You are not the only officer who needs my services."

"I am the only officer with a major murder trial going up before the Wizengemot tomorrow," he snapped. "I need those dated. Now."

She glared but did as she was bid. Everyone in the Ministry knew of Snipely's brusque attitude, mostly from experience, and most were accustomed to simply doing as he asked. He was an excellent officer with a near perfect record. The Auror department constantly tried to recruit him as his dogged personality matched Moody's, but he consistently rejected any offer. He preferred chasing convictions to chasing Death Eaters. He liked good motive and strong evidence, and Death Eaters lacked both.

"Here," she muttered after twenty minutes. "Now leave me alone."

"I'll have a question or two in a few minutes, so no." He stood there at her desk, staring at the dated grooves. Two dates caught his attention and he shoved the photo back in her face. "I thought you were good at your job."

"I thought you were a professional!" She snatched the photo. "Snipely, you cannot-"

"Look at you stupidity," he interjected with a sneer. "That can't possibly be correct!"

She looked at the two dates he referred to and rolled his eyes. "Despite what you think, Mr. Snipely, I am not incompetent at my job. That is why I run my department and not you. Those dates are correct. Go ahead and get someone else to date them. They'll only tell you the same thing and not nearly as accurate."

He walked away in the middle of her tirade, not nearly as interested as she thought he was in why she was at the top of her field. Back in his office, he let the photos float in front of him.

"You're still here?"

He glanced to his door where Harker and Kirby were. "What?"

"It's nearly midnight, gov."

Snipely frowned, looking at the clock. "And you interrupted me to tell me the time?"

Harker came in, handing over a folder. "Just thought I'd give this to you. Results on the blood and fur."

Snipely turned to Kirby without opening the folder. "What do you know?"

She glanced at Harker with a frown. "Um, well my contact got back to me. Said there was rumor that some mad witch doctor down in Kagera got a hold of a skeleton and used it to conjure up a few beasts."

"That kind of magic requires a living creature."

"Funny you should mention it because the trade minister just got an owl from Japan. Looks like they don't have an accurate count on the amount of bakenekos in the country."

"Bake..what?"

"Something of a mngwa, but for Japan. Anyway, maybe our witch doctor gets his hands on one and uses it to make a hybrid of sorts. My contact says that the doctor sent a large package out of Tanzania last year and the rumors stopped about that time."

"Think he shipped one up to Granger or Malfoy?" Harker said.

When they received no answer, the officers looked to Snipely, who had finally opened the folder. There was a look strange displeased look on his face.

"What is it, gov?"

"We have a problem." He stood, tossing the photos at them. Harker noticed it first; the two dates Snipely had been staring at for hours.

"That's not possible."

Rolling his eyes, Snipely tossed over the folder. "Did you bother reading it before you gave it to me?"

Harker blushed. "I thought you would want to-"

"Don't assume something so idiotic next time. Read the results."

Kirby frowned. "Two…but that's not possible."

"Really?" Snipely's lip curled in derision. "You believe so?"

"Two DNA samples," Harker muttered, looking up at his boss. "So there are two of these things?"

"Those two really didn't want to take their chances," Kirby said with a wan smile. Snipely threw his inkbottle at her.

"Idiot! Look at the photos!"

Frowning, they both looked down. What had been eluding Snipely for so long was finally very clear. Kirby's eyes widened.

"Oh, good Lord!"

Snipely nodded. "Quite right."

"They were fighting."

"Yes. That's the only possibility. Other wise the two marks don't make any sense. Not put in at the same time like that. The DNA results prove it, too."

Harker looked up at Snipely, worry clearly written on his face. "What does this mean?"

Snipely's mouth turned to cotton. "It means that I need to speak to Miss Granger and Mr. Malfoy one more time."

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><p><strong>We're coming up on the home stretch!<strong>


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